We Choose Our Own
by trinitynix
Summary: The Triwizard Tournament is back at Hogwarts with Ilvermorny as an additional competitor. Hermione Granger is in her sixth year and is figuring out her sexuality when she meets tournament participant, Fleur Delacour. They grow close, but forces out of their control are determined to stand in their way. What should you do when the problem is your own family? FLEURMIONE
1. Chapter 1

Hermione shuddered as a cold wind whipped through the Entrance Hall. She was standing with Harry and Ron as they waited behind a large crowd to enter the Great Hall. It was a wet, cold night and Hermione, Harry and Ron had to wait for 10 minutes in the rain before they could find a free carriage. They had squeezed in with Luna who proceeded to tell them about her summer which included a trip to Belgium in the hunt for some ridiculous creature that Hermione hadn't bothered remembering the name of. They were entering their sixth year at Hogwarts and Hermione knew this year was extremely important in the lead up to their NEWT's. The thought of it made her nervous and she had poured over her subject choices all summer trying to decide what would have her most prepared for her seventh year. She had spent the majority of her summer at home with her family before staying the last two weeks at The Burrow. As always, it had been an extremely enjoyable time with the Weasley's, the highlight being when Fred had turned Percy's cornflakes into dungbeetles. Percy, being focused on a _Daily Prophet _article, had not noticed and took an exceptionally large bite. She didn't see much of Percy after that, with Fred happily taking the blame for his absence.

"What's the hold up?" exclaimed Ron, standing on his toes to see over the crowd. "I'm bloody starving. Surely if we just shove a bit we can get to the front… look there's a pack of second years, they'll be easy to push…" The words had no sooner left his mouth when the crowd began to shuffle forward. Ron glared at the second years who looked back, frightened. Hermione sighed, she was too cold to lecture Ron about setting an example as a prefect.

After 5 more minutes of slow shuffling, a wave to Hagrid, and a deft move to avoid Peeves circling overheard with dungbombs, they finally found their seats at the Gryffindor table. The Great Hall was filled with excited murmuring, not unusual for the start of the school year as students caught up on the summer gossip. Seamus and Dean sat across from Hermione, part way through an excited conversation of their own.

"…going to enter for sure, but I wonder if they've changed the rules?" said Seamus, running his hand through his hair, water droplets falling slowly down his face. The Sorting ceremony had begun behind them so they lowered their voices to a whisper.

"They would have to; things have changed since the last time. More safety laws and all that. The Ministry would have a fit if it goes to the dogs like the last one," said Dean, taking out his wand and waving it over his clothes to dry them. "Oh, hey Hermione!" he said, realising who was across from them. "Harry, Ron. How was your summer's?"

"Riveting," whispered Ron. "I ate food and did nothing. What were you guys just talking about?"

"The tournament," Seamus replied nonchalantly. His eyebrows rose when he saw the confusion on the trio's faces. "Surely you three know about the tournament!? It's the worst kept secret at Hogwarts!"

"We haven't heard shit," Ron shrugged. "Not a word. You wouldn't even think I had family members at the Ministry with the amount of information they don't tell me. Might as well live with Muggles."

Seamus opened his mouth to reply but Ginny shushed them from further down the table. The sorting finished to a round of applause and Dumbledore stood up. He was beaming and had his arms open wide and a hush went over the Great Hall.

"A very good evening to you all as we embark on yet another year of learning and adventure," said Dumbledore. "Before we start the feast, I have a quick announcement." Heads around the hall turned to Dumbledore inquisitively. Usually he kept his speeches until after they had eaten to maximise attention which was ironic as, due to this change in pattern, he now had every student listening with a keen ear. Dumbledore continued, "As some of you may already know due to the dreadful secret keeping of those friends and family you love the most, this year Hogwarts will be playing host to the Triwizard Tournament." There was a gasp in unison and muttering broke out immediately. Hermione frowned. She had never even heard of the Triwizard Tournament, something she was distressed about as her textbooks had obviously let her down.

"The what?" said Harry, turning to Hermione, expecting that she would know the answer. Hermione shrugged, more interested in the delicious food that would soon be filling their plates. She took no interest in these types of things. They were usually entered by arrogant or over-confident people who were determined to prove their self-worth to an audience of their peers. She didn't need to do that, she much preferred keeping her head down and avoiding as much attention as possible. That was difficult to do when you're friends with Harry Potter, but she tried her best. Dumbledore cleared his throat and the hall fell silent again.

"For those of you who do not know, the Triwizard tournament is an opportunity for our wizarding community to join together and engage in some friendly competition. It is a time for unity and global participation, to join us with those we do not usually get to meet. This year, the usual guests will be attending who happen to be the Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang. Due to the, ah, _unfortunate _events of the previous Triwizard Tournament, our impartial judge now expects four schools to enter instead of three. So, for the first time ever, we are delighted to announce that Ilvermorny will also be participating in the tournament." The Great Hall immediately broke out into excited whispers again.

"Ilvermorny? As in the American school?"

"How did _they_ get an invite?"

"Americans_?_"

"I love their accent, do you think they'll be friendly?"

"_Americans!?_"

"Furthermore," said Dumbledore, bringing a hush again to the audience. "You will be sharing your classes with the students who brave the trip to Hogwarts. They are excited and curious as to what our wonderful school can teach them so we expect you to greet them with the utmost kindness and openness, as I'm sure you will. Now, enough chat, let us enjoy the feast!" The tables were suddenly groaning under dishes of food and the Great Hall burst into noise once again. Ron turned to Hermione and Harry, grinning.

"Wicked!" he exclaimed. "I've heard of this tournament before, there's always a huge amount of prize money AND we get to meet French girls!" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Of course the only point _you _would take from Dumbledore's speech is that there will be French girls here," said Hermione, reaching for some mashed potatoes.

"Oh come off it Hermione," replied Ron, his mouth filled with chicken. "Don't tell me you aren't as excited to meet an American guy? Or a Durmstrang guy from, well, whichever country they come from?" Hermione didn't reply, instead surveying her mashed potatoes with more interest than they deserved. Ron mistakenly took Hermione's silence to mean that he was right and smiled as he shovelled more food in his mouth.

All conversations in the Great Hall revolved around the Twiwizard tournament as people excitedly speculated on who would enter. Luna had drifted over at some point, looking lost as always, and told Ginny she thought she would be an excellent candidate before turning to Ron and telling him he would be a terrible one. This got a laugh from the Gryffindor table and Ron's ears turned red as he awkwardly laughed along too.

The last dish finally vanished and Hermione felt pleasantly full, ready to head back to the dormitory for a much anticipated sleep. Dumbledore stood once more and again a hush fell over the students.

"Once again, we come to the end of a glorious feast. With your bellies full and your eyes heavy, I ask you once more for your brief attention. Our guests from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and Ilvermorny will be arriving one week from today. They will each bring twenty students who they deem fit to enter the tournament. One week after their arrival, the impartial judge will decide who the champion for each school will be. One champion per school will be selected to participate in three challenges based on their courage, determination, strength and wit. The prize will be 1000 galleons and two tickets to the Weird Sister's concert in Luxembourg." The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. "All those over 16 are welcome to enter, and-" said Dumbledore, raising his voice over the outroar of the younger students, "I would advise you not to try to trick the judge. It will not work and will only allow your peers to have a good laugh at the resulting punishment. Now, enough of that, time for bed!"

There was a loud scraping of benches as students got up and walked towards the doors.

"What do you reckon? Think you'll enter?" asked Harry, turning to Hermione as they stood.

Hermione shook her head.

"We have our NEWT's next year Harry, this year is important to make sure we're ready for it. My class schedule is already packed and with Prefect duties on top of that I don't know how I'll cope."

"Says the girl who had a time turner so she could go to more classes at the age of thirteen," retorted Harry with a smirk. "You'll cope fine; the teachers would make sure you wouldn't fail. I can't think of someone more deserving of being the Hogwarts champion than you Hermione."

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"I certainly can," she replied. "You, Harry. All you _do_ is be brave, it's like your MO."

Harry laughed.

"There's a very fine line between bravery and stupidity and I walk it every day," he said, smiling. "You, on the other hand, don't. I don't think you're capable of being stupid. There's more to bravery than running into a fight you aren't guaranteed to win. You should give it some more thought."

"I agree," Ron piped up, walking over to them and accidentally shoulder checking Colin Creevey who went flying to the floor. "Oh sorry mate," he said, looking at Colin, "you should grow a bit and that won't happen again. Anyway," Ron said, turning back to Hermione and Harry, "Harry and I are going to enter and it wouldn't be right if you didn't. Plus, if we get it we would just go to you for help with the tasks anyway."

"What have I got to prove by entering this tournament?" replied Hermione, starting to move towards a group of confused first years who were awaiting her instruction as a prefect. "Which, may I add, is still called the Triwizard Tournament even though there are four schools involved which is just ridiculous. "

"You have nothing to prove Hermione, we all know that," said Harry. "But for once you can get the credit for your own genius and skill. 1000 galleons prize money would help towards any study you'd have to do after Hogwarts. Plus imagine the _connections _you would be able to make that could help you launch your career after our NEWT's."

Harry smirked as Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew he was goading her but begrudgingly knew he was right; this kind of thing _did_ lead to great connections and would mean the results of her NEWT's wouldn't matter so much. She did also plan on doing extra study after she graduated from Hogwarts which cost money, money that her parents didn't have. _It might not be a bad idea, _Hermione thought to herself, but pushed it to the side. She would give it some more thought tomorrow.

"I'll think about it Harry," she finally said. Harry shrugged and walked off, Ron sneaking off behind him.

"Oi!" Hermione shouted after Ron. "Are you a prefect or what?" Ron slowly turned around, muttering to himself sullenly as he walked back to her. Hermione caught words like _small gits_ and _can find the common room themselves _but chose to ignore this as she turned to the first years with a big smile, ushering them out of the Great Hall.

One week later, Hermione stood with Ron, Ginny and Harry on the lawn with the rest of the students around them. Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny and Durmstrang were set to arrive any moment and the staff had made them all stand outside to greet them. Hermione wrapped her robes tightly around herself; she wished they would hurry up. Eventually, a large noise from the lake signalled the arrival of a ship, rising above the water as if it had been beneath its surface all along. The students from Durmstrang disembarked the ship and walked to towards the Hogwarts students. Karkaroff greeted Dumbledore with an overly enthusiastic and not at all genuine greeting before leading his students inside. Ilvermorny were next; a loud noise announcing the arrival of two eighteen wheeler trucks. One moment the space had been empty, the next the two trucks were speeding into the grounds. The trucks had huge Ilvermorny logos donned on each side and they screeched to a halt in the soft earth.

"Subtle," Ginny remarked, eyeing the trucks. The pistons hissed and the back of the trucks were thrown open as twenty students descended out of it. At the front was who Hermione assumed was the headmaster. He stood tall with a genuine smile that put Karkaroff's to shame. He and his students wore robes of blue and cranberry, fastened by a golden Gordian knot and exuded confidence as they strode towards the castle. The Headmaster smiled as he took Dumbeldore's extended hand with two of his own.

"Albus!" the Headmaster boomed. "How glad we are to be here!"

"An easy trip, Professor Fontaine?" replied Dumbledore.

"Ah no need for formalities Albus, call me Agilbert!" Fontaine replied with laughter in his voice. "The trip was never going to be easy. Ran into a bit of trouble over the Atlantic Ocean, storms and whatnot, then had to make an unexpected detour to Ireland due to illness, but here we are now!"

Hermione got the impression that this Agilbert Fontaine liked attention very much. He was looking around at the Hogwarts students as he continued the story about their journey, now giving intense details about the storm and how he took control of the steering to ensure his students safety. Eventually he gestured his students to go indoors and with one last wave to the Hogwarts crowd, he disappeared.

"Nutter," muttered Ron, turning back to face the grounds once again. "Interesting they bought those big trucks though, I guess the students will be sleeping in there. Crazy those things can fly, huh?"

"We literally owned a flying car," Ginny retorted. Ron went silent.

Once again they waited quietly. Hermione was very cold now and was starting to feel annoyed; these French guests were already late, she wished Dumbledore would tell them to head inside. Suddenly, they heard a great beating of wings and two horse-drawn carriages appeared in the distance. They came closer at a quickening speed and landed elegantly on the lawn next to the Ilvermorny trucks; an extreme contrast to the way the American guests had arrived. The door was flung open and out stepped the tallest woman Hermione had ever seen. Her students followed quickly, dwarfed by her height. Hermione couldn't see them clearly as they approached but heard muttering break out among the Hogwarts students. Dumbledore greeted the tall woman named Madam Maxime and invited them in promptly to the Great Hall. As they walked past, Hermione dropped her gaze from Madam Maxime to a girl walking next to her. The girl's hair was long and sleek, a silvery shimmer emanating from it. She was slim and walked with an extremely straight posture; a slight smile on her face that appeared rather forced. Everyone in the Hogwarts crowd who had got over Maxime's height had noticed this girl as, there was no other way to put it, she was the most beautiful person Hermione had ever seen. She stared slightly transfixed as the rest of the Beauxbatons crowd walked past and the girl turned briefly, making eye contact with Hermione. She had the most astonishingly blue eyes and her stare was intense, but a moment later it was over and she walked past. Hermione continued to stare, only snapping out of it when Harry gently nudged her. She turned around and saw Ron was also gawking.

"That girl," said Ron, facing Hermione and Harry, his mouth still slightly agape. "The one next to Maxime, she's got to be a Veela. Has to be. Nobody human can look like that unless they have some Veela blood in them. Bloody hell, I didn't think there were any of them left."

Hermione quickly nodded. That had to be it, the girl had to be a Veela who was turning on her natural charm to enchant the crowd around her. That's why Hermione couldn't take her eyes off of her, no other reason.

Hermione followed the Hogwarts crowd back into the Great Hall, lost in thought. From a million miles away Hermione heard Ginny say, "Urgh, why did we have to get _them_?" and she pulled herself back to the present. The students from Durmstrang had elected to sit at the Slytherin table, Beauxbatons at Ravenclaw's and, to Ginny's annoyance, Ilvermorny at Gryffindor's. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny found a spot across from two Ilvermorny students and proceeded to sit. One of the Ilvermorny boys immediately stood up and stuck out his hand. He had dark hair, light eyes and strong cheekbones. Hermione could see the girls around them admiring him and assumed that he must be good looking.

"Hey, how ya doing?" said the boy, shaking Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny's hand in turn. "My name's Cedric Diggory, pleased to meet you." The boy next to Cedric stayed quiet and stared at his hands, apparently much shyer than Cedric. They introduced themselves to Cedric and struck up polite conversation until Dumbledore stood up and a hush fell over the hall.

"Welcome all!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at the now packed Great Hall. "We at Hogwarts are so pleased to have you here to join us once again in the Triwizard Tournament. As our castle is your new home, we urge you make yourselves comfortable."

Agilbert Fontaine was nodding enthusiastically; Karkaroff and Madam Maxime looked glumly at their surroundings, apparently unimpressed with their home for the next nine months.

"As of tomorrow morning," Dumbledore continued, "the Goblet of Fire will be lit. This is an impartial judge and will require you to write your name and school on a piece of parchment and drop it into it. The Goblet will be active for one week and will then announce the champions at dinner. I will reiterate, only those students over sixteen may enter." A muttering filled the hall at these words. Hermione saw Ginny mouth a crude word in Dumbledore's direction; she was not sixteen in time to compete.

"As of tomorrow," Dumbledore said, "we will have the pleasure of our guests joining us in our classes. After the feast, if the Hogwarts students will remain behind to collect their timetables. But enough from me, get to know our guests and enjoy the feast!"

"Here, here!" said Fontaine a little over-excitedly and the tables were once again filled with food. The selection of food was varied and Hermione assumed it was due to the larger cultural diversity their school now held.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Cedric, reaching for a dish of macaroni and cheese. Cedric's friend took some too but did not speak.

"So," continued Cedric, as if they had just been mid-conversation when in reality no one had been speaking, "you guys have a great place here. Beautiful castle, can't believe we've been invited to compete."

"Me neither," said Ron which got him an elbow in the ribs from Ginny. Cedric smiled, assuming Ron was being sarcastic which Hermione knew was an inaccurate assumption. Suddenly a squeal filled the Great Hall, making most students look towards the noise. Hermione turned around and saw the beautiful silver-haired girl from Beauxbatons run towards a dark-haired girl from Ilvermorny and give her a hug. They held on tightly and Hermione felt a strange pang of envy toward the girl from Ilvermorny. _Must be the Veela charm being put on again _she thought.

Hermione looked around the Great Hall and noticed the Durmstrang students were all staring at the silver-haired girl too. Most had looks of intense admiration, but she was surprised to see some were showing extreme disgust on their faces. These reactions were not in line with the admiring looks from the other students; they were at a much higher intensity which had nothing to do with a Veela charm. Hermione wondered what may have prompted this as she slowly turned back to her plate, which was now loaded with dessert. Cedric and Ginny were in a discussion about Quidditch, Harry shooting dark looks at them both.

Eventually the feast ended and Cedric said his goodbyes, heading out of the Great Hall with the rest of his classmates. The Ilvermorny students were extremely loud as they walked out, waving at the Hogwarts students and shouting their goodbyes. This received glares from the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; they did not appear to be pleased with their rambunctious neighbours.

McGonagall walked down the Gryffindor table handing out their timetables for the year. Hermione glanced down at it; it didn't look as full as she thought. Maybe she did have the time to enter the tournament after all…

"Fuck this!" Ron exclaimed loudly, resulting in a glare from McGonagall and a promise to hex his lips together if he used that language again. Once she had walked away, Ron leant closer to Harry and Hermione, keeping his voice down but not adjusting his language.

"Look who we have Defence Against the Dark Art with! Durmstrang! That school is the reason we _have _Dark Arts, their students created half the fucking curses!"

"That's not fair," said Hermione. "Every school has their fair share of evil wizards who come from evil families. They had Grindelwald and then that incident a couple of years ago with the Grindelwald sympathisers-"

"And we had Voldemort," interrupted Harry. "Plus half of the Death Eater's kids go here, we aren't innocent."

"Yeah but the other half of the Death eater kids go there!" argued Ron.

"I don't think we should judge them until we know them," said Hermione. "Plus, a moment ago you loved them when you saw that Krum goes to that school."

Ron's ears reddened.

"Well I don't trust them," he retorted. "And I absolutely will not be working with any of them in Defence class. Atleast we have Beauxbaton's in Charms, maybe that girl will be in there, you know, that one…" Ron trailed off but yes, Hermione knew _exactly _which one he was talking about. She didn't know her name but there was something about that girl. It had nothing to do with being a Veela; Hermione didn't hold appearance in high regard. It was the way she walked, confident yet still closed off. The way she had a slight smile on her face when she knew the crowd was watching her, as if she had dealt with this for years and knew it best to smile until it was over. Hermione knew what that was like. Her adventures with Harry and Ron and granted her her own fair share of staring and whispering and she didn't like it either. Hermione realised Harry and Ron were talking again and willed herself to focus on the conversation.

"…look, we have Potions with Ilvermorny," continued Ron. "Hopefully that pretty boy Diggory isn't in the class. He looks like he'd be stupid. I think the accent's fake as well."

"Yeah," said Harry nodding profusely, "absolutely no brains. Seems a bit full of himself I reckon."

Hermione rolled her eyes as the boys continued to slam Diggory to inflate their own egos. She noticed the Great Hall was emptying and stood up, leading Harry and Ron out of the Great Hall. As they reached the staircase to start the climb to Gryffindor Tower, she glanced out at the grounds. Near the Beauxbaton's carriage she noticed what looked like a dog shaped patronus casually walking alongside Madam Maxime. It had an elegant gait though, one that a patronus couldn't have. She decided to wonder what it may be tomorrow; her tired brain was sick of the over thinking for one night.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey team!

Thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows. I had this story in mind for awhile and am writing for the joy of it so it's awesome to see some of you are enjoying it to.

Quick note: I've decided to type all the characters words in plain English rather than with the heavy accents that were emphasised in the books e.g. when Fleur speaks in the books it iz spelt like zis. Yeah, I'm not going to do that. Of course, in my head they still have these accents but I don't feel the need to highlight it.

I'll try to update every Friday! I am moving countries this week so while I settle in the posts may vary. I have written a couple of chapters in advance so I'm hoping I should be able to stick to the schedule.

The fic is rated M for later chapters as there will be sexual content. I bet you're all really disappointed about that.

This universe is a slight AU but not by much. I explain the differences in the story.

Enjoy!

xXx

xXx

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting under their favourite Beech tree by the lake, watching the activity in front of them. Breakfast was still happening in the Great Hall but they had opted to grab some food and sit outside under the warm morning sun.

It seemed that students from Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and Ilvermorny had the option to eat meals with the Hogwarts students or in their own quarters. Hermione had not seen many students from any of the schools in the Hall that morning and it appeared some of them were still sleeping. She did spot Cedric in there, who had elected to sit with the Hufflepuff's, and was engaged in conversation with a couple of girls. As they had left the Hall, Hermione saw Hannah Abbott hurriedly run over to join their conversation before he finished his meal.

The doors of the Entrance Hall burst open as Malfoy and a gang of Slytherin's walked out, laughing loudly and strutting to where the Durmstrang ship was moored. They were quite a distance away but Malfoy looked up and saw their group sitting by the tree. He nudged the Slytherin's around him and pointed in their direction.

"Hey Potter!" Malfoy yelled, stopping next to the ramp that lead onto Durmstrang's ship. "How's your scar? Had any visions lately? You know there's a ward in St. Mungo's that might be able to help with that. It's a shame they can't help your murderer Godfather come back to life, don't you think?"

Harry stood up quickly and reached for his wand but Hermione and Ginny both grabbed his arms.

"Don't, Harry," said Ginny, wrestling to keep him from charging at Malfoy. "It's not worth it. His dad is locked up in Azkaban because of you, that's the best revenge you can get. We don't want to draw more attention than it's worth."

As Ginny spoke, several students from Durmstrang walked onto the top deck of their ship, listening with curiosity. Cedric, who had been crossing the lawn with the group of Hufflepuff girls from breakfast, also stopped and had his hand in his pocket, presumably on his wand. Madam Maxime opened the doors of the Beauxbaton's carriage and stood in the doorway; arms crossed, her students peeking out at the scene from behind her. Everyone was watching Harry.

"I'm so fucking sick of him," spat Harry, oblivious to his audience. "Just let me have one shot, I only need one hex to shut him up."

"Harry, look around," said Hermione urgently. "There are a lot of people waiting to see what you'll do. Everyone in the wizarding world heard about what happened at the Ministry last year and you're being watched closer than ever since they all think you're the "Chosen One". Why do you think they chose to have the Triwizard Tournament _this_ year?

Harry's teeth were gritted but he had stopped resisting Hermione and Ginny's hold. Malfoy let out an over-exaggerated laugh and boarded the Durmstrang ship, his Slytherin gang in tow. Karkaroff opened the door for them, looking anxiously at Malfoy as they disappeared over the threshold.

Cedric had resumed walking with the group of Hufflepuff's, seemingly towards the greenhouses. As they walked past, one of the girls exclaimed, "don't worry about Harry Potter, Cedric. He's always causing trouble in some way. They say You Know Who is after him so it's best to steer clear." Cedric didn't reply to this, simply giving Harry a slight nod as they walked by.

Maxime had uncrossed her arms and began to walk across the lawn towards the castle. Some of her students followed while others continued to stare at Harry.

At that moment, the dog Hermione had seen last night exited the carriage. It became quickly clear that the dog was not a Patronus as it was very much solid.

The grass barely flattened at its feet as it lightly walked to a sunny patch near the carriage and lay down. It looked like a _Berger Blanc Suisse_, but with hair so fine that it was nearly translucent. The Beauxbatons students nearby all admired it as it lay in the sun, but the dog was staring intently at Harry.

Harry sat back down roughly on the ground, punching the earth as he did.

"I hate it," he said, ripping up the grass by his knees. "I hate the attention, I hate this "Chosen One" bullshit, I hate it all. I can't do anything anymore without people putting me under a microscope. I'm not going to enter the tournament, I can't think of anything worse than having _more _attention."

"Understandable, mate," said Ron, looking relieved that Harry was starting to calm down. "I honestly don't know why they're all here anyway."

"It's _because _of all of that "Chosen One" business that they're here," replied Hermione. "Everyone knows that Voldemort won't come near Hogwarts while Dumbledore is here, it's the safest place to be. People are scared and their schools aren't as secure as ours. He'll start recruiting soon and parents fear their kids will be taken."

"How do you know this?" asked Ginny. Hermione shrugged.

"It just makes sense. Voldemort did it last time he was in power and so did Grindelwald. I think it would've happened earlier if everyone believed Voldemort came back when he actually did. Innocent people may have been spared. This tournament is a way to start building alliances while keeping everyone safe."

"How do we know they aren't spies for You Know Who?" Ron retorted. "We've now got to keep an eye on about 60 more people who we don't know; they could be up to anything! And twenty of those people are from _Durmstrang_!"

"I'm sure there would've been a vetting process before they could enter the tournament," Hermione replied. "Dumbledore isn't stupid, Ron. He's put so much extra protection around this place that you can't sneeze without someone knowing about it. He wouldn't let just anyone come into Hogwarts."

"And yet, he's let another Death Eater in," Harry replied darkly. "Voldemort said Karkaroff's name when he listed off his old Death Eater's after he was resurrected."

"Because Karkaroff had defected," said Hermione softly. "He mentioned him by name because he planned to kill any one he thought had abandoned him and Karkaroff and Snape were both on his list. Then Snape apparated to him later on Dumbledore's orders to work as a double agent, so he's in the good books again. That's what you told us."

"And what if Voldemort finds out Snape is really a double agent?" snapped Harry. "We'll be in the company of two people he wants murderous revenge on and you think some spells around the castle will keep him from coming to get it? Yeah, Hogwarts seems like a _really _safe place to be right now. If I was a student from Beauxbaton's or Ilvermorny, I would be outta here."

They all fell silent. Harry continued to pull at the grass around him. The students from Durmstrang had now left the ship with the Slytherin's and were heading toward the castle. Malfoy made a point to turn around and pull the finger at Harry, causing the Durmstrang students to turn and look at him, waiting for a reaction. Harry scowled.

"Great. Another full school year of people staring at me and watching my every move. What's new," he said sarcastically. "All I wanted was for everyone to believe me and now they do and suddenly I'm like a circus animal on display."

Hermione felt a rush of sympathy for Harry. She and Ron hadn't been there when Harry had witnessed Voldemort's return and they both still felt immensely guilty about it.

It had happened at the end of their fourth year. Until that point, the year had been somewhat underwhelming. No crazy adventures had happened to them. They went to the Quidditch World Cup together to watch Iceland win, spent Christmas at The Burrow, passed their exams, and boarded the Hogwarts Express in high spirits for the summer. The day before the end of the school term, Harry had planned to stay with Sirius as Sirius had managed to find a secure house. He mentioned it to Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express who thought it a good idea once they knew Harry would be safe.

Hermione now realised that Sirius had probably been extremely over-excited about the prospect of spending the summer with Harry and overlooked the safety precautions that unknowingly needed to surround Harry at all times, the main one being alerting Dumbledore to this plan. At that point, they were not aware of the special protection that guarded the Dursley's house to keep Harry safe.

As Sirius was still on the run, Harry had said he would make his own way to the address he had been given by catching the Knight Bus. He had waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione and proceeded to walk to a pick up point. He wouldn't have been alone for more than ten minutes.

By this time, Dumbledore and the Ministry had been alerted by the conductor of the Hogwarts Express that Harry had not been picked up by the Dursley's; instead walking off by himself. Dumbledore immediately left to find Harry but it was too late.

Barty Crouch had unknowingly been put under the Imperius curse by Peter Pettigrew earlier in the year and had been feeding him information. When the Ministry was told about Harry's unexpected departure, Crouch volunteered to find him with no qualms. His colleagues had found it slightly unusual that such a high Ministry official would volunteer to search for a wandering fourteen year old but didn't think much more of it.

Crouch had apparated to King's Cross station and quickly spotted Harry waiting for the Knight Bus on a nearby street. Harry recognised Crouch from when they met at the Quidditch World Cup and therefore trusted and believed him when he said he needed to have a private word.

Crouch lead Harry to a quiet area, stunned him and then apparated him to where Wormtail was waiting. Crouch then apparated back to the Ministry as to not raise suspicion, saying he could not find Harry at King's Cross and that they should gather a party to search a wider area. Voldemort's resurrection was taking place during this time.

Hermione still felt guilty when she thought of the story. If she and Ron hadn't been so blasé about Harry's security then it would've never happened. Harry would probably have died if it hadn't been for Dumbledore's quick action.

Dumbledore had arrived at the Ministry soon after Crouch's return and demanded Fudge tell him who had searched for Harry. Crouch tried to evade Dumbledore's questioning, making him seem very suspicious. Dumbledore used Legilimency on Crouch to discover what had truly happened and apparated to the spot, right as Voldemort and Harry were about to duel.

Dumbledore had fought off Voldemort and grabbed Harry, apparating them back to the Dursley's where he informed Harry of the protection the house held. Dumbledore told the Ministry immediately what had happened but Fudge refused to believe it and touted Dumbledore and Harry as liars for the entire next year.

This all changed after Fudge witnessed Voldemort for himself in the Ministry at the end of their fifth year, fighting Dumbledore in the Atrium.

Hermione had been there when Fudge discovered the Death Eater's that Dumbledore had tied up in the veil room. She had woken up after being knocked out by an excruciating curse that was thrown by a voiceless Death Eater and made her way to the room. Once there, she saw nearly all of the Death Eater's they had been fighting tied up in a circle. Fudge had walked in and stopped dead in his tracks. A look of disbelief crossed his face as he looked into the eyes of the double-crossing Lucius Malfoy.

To her surprise, members of the Order were there too. She was unconscious when they had joined the battle and it seemed like they had been beaten up quite badly. Nonetheless, Hermione expected them to look happier than they did seeing as they had thwarted Voldemort once again. Then she found out what happened to Sirius and understood why.

Harry hadn't spoken to them about Sirius' death. Hermione and Ron had broached the subject at The Burrow during the summer but he had quickly changed the topic. They decided it would be best to let Harry talk about Sirius when he felt ready. Having Malfoy goad him, however, wasn't helping his healing process.

"The stories in the _Prophet _probably aren't helping either," said Ron, continuing on from their discussion. "All this rubbish calling you "The Chosen One" and our "One True Hope" when in reality you're a scrawny git with glasses who once set his own shoes on fire by accident."

Harry smiled weakly at the attempt to cheer him up but didn't speak.

They sat in silence for a number of minutes, looking out over the grounds. The sun had risen higher now and the students from all schools were awake and moving around the grounds.

The bell rang to signal that classes would start soon and the group of Beauxbaton's students re-entered their carriage to get their bags. The dog also stood up, stretched, and trotted back inside.

"No surprise that Beauxbatons bought a Speropax with them, is it?" said Ginny, breaking the silence as she eyed the dog. She threw her last bit of toast into the lake and watched as the giant squid gleefully broke the surface to grab it.

"Excuse you?" replied Ron.

"A Speropax. That shiny dog thing that was by their carriage just now. It's a French dog breed, really rare. They're a symbol of peace and hope, but there's legend that they're also really lucky. They were popular with French families during Grindelwald's reign as a way to protect yourself 'cos they're meant to be fiercely loyal and great fighters. Makes sense that the breed is coming back in vogue during these times."

"Not a bad pet to have though, is it?" replied Ron as he stretched and threw his bag over his shoulder. "Hell of a lot better than Pigwidgeon."

Ginny rolled her eyes and they all stood up to get ready to go to class. Hermione checked her timetable and saw they had Defence Against the Dark Arts with Durmstrang, followed by Charms with Beauxbatons. She sighed. It was going to be a long day.

xXx

xXx

Five minutes later, Hermione, Harry and Ron were waiting outside of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Their fellow Gryffindor's stood with them, chatting amicably to the Hufflepuff's who they shared the class with.

A few moments later, Snape came walking down the hall with five Durmstrang students in tow. Victor Krum was among them, keeping his eyes on the floor and ignoring the excited murmuring that rose from the Hogwarts student's waiting in the hallway. Ron let out a squeal that he quickly tried to disguise as a cough.

"In," said Snape to the waiting students, holding the door open as the Durmstrang students filed past him into the gloomy classroom.

"Can't believe Krum's in our class!" whispered Ron, his voice cracking slightly as they headed toward the door. "He's a seventh year though, what's he doing in our class?"

"Must be a bit of an idiot," muttered Harry. "Too many bludgers to the head, probably."

"Not many from Durmstrang taking the subject, is there?" replied Ron, lowering his voice further as they passed a glaring Snape into the classroom.

"Well, a lot of the students they brought will be seventh years," said Hermione. "So they won't be in our classes anyway."

"Yeah, and they're all more interested in _learning _the Dark Arts than how to defend themselves from them," Ron retorted.

They headed for a desk at the back of the classroom having learnt long ago that it was best to stay as far away from Snape as possible. Hermione lowered her bag onto their four person desk, greeting Ernie MacMillan who was already there.

To Ron's delight, Krum had chosen to sit at the desk directly in front of them. The four other Durmstrang students sat together near the front and seemed to ignore Krum's presence. The classroom wasn't full and no one sat next to Krum; whether through intimidation or indifference, leaving him to appear quite the lonely figure.

Snape strode to the front of the room and wrote on the board "UNFORGIVEABLE CURSES: THE BASICS". Excited murmuring brushed over the classroom, this was a topic that was known for being interesting to learn.

"Great, we get to learn about curses that kill and torture with the Durmstrang lot," hissed Ron. "Reckon, they'll ask Snape for a step-by-step guide on how to perform it?"

Hermione noticed Krum's ear turn toward them slightly.

"Come on, Ron," said Harry, apparently also growing weary of his pre-judgemental comments toward the Durmstrang students. "Not everyone who's from a different country is out to get you."

"That's not what I mea-,"

"Thank you Mr Weasley!" said Snape, his voice ringing out over the classroom. "If you're so interested in talking, why don't you do it in a way that actually contributes to our classroom discussion and tell us all the name of one of the Unforgiveable Curses, what it does, and how to defend yourself from it?"

Ron's ears were bright red as he cleared his throat.

"Um, well, there's Avada Kedavra, everyone knows that one. It's the killing one and, uh, there's not really any protection against it… unless you dodge it? And I guess if you throw up a shield charm that's half decent you'll be alright, maybe?"

"An answer that I would've expected from a fourth year," replied Snape, his lip curling. 'Though you are correct in saying it is the killing curse and indeed most people have heard of it, though hopefully with more detail than that poor answer you just gave."

Ron had his fist clenched but did not reply. Snape continued to discuss each of the Unforgiveable Curses in great detail, stopping here and there for questions. The Durmstrang students appeared uninterested, had they already learnt this at a much younger age?

"You would never believe he's _really _on our side, would you?" hissed Ron. "The way he treats us, it's like he wants us to fail. Hopefully You Know Who does figure out he's a traitor, then we won't have to deal with him anymore."

"Ron!" Hermione said. "Don't say that, you know how important he is to the Order!"

"No, I don't know," Ron retorted. "They never tell us anything. He could just be cosying up to You Know Who, sitting on his lap and telling him how pretty he is."

Hermione and Harry snorted with laughter at this, the horrific image on their minds.

"And," continued Ron, "he'll probably be our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the rest of our education."

"Nah, the job's jinxed, remember? Dumbledore told me last year," Harry replied.

"Yeah, jinxed by You Know Who, though," Ron muttered. "He wanted to teach here so he could recruit more followers and having a Death Eater in the job is the next best thing, isn't it? I bet the jinx has some kind of clause for this thing."

"That's not how jinxes work, Ron," Hermione sighed as Harry tried to stifle his laughter at Ron's logic.

Ron shrugged. "Look all I'm saying is-"

"Mr Weasley!" Snape's voice rang out, making them all jump. "My, my, my you are quite the chatterbox today. Our Durmstrang guests should know that this is not the usual standard of student we have at Hogwarts and that Mr Weasley is an exception. Our first class and I already have to split you and your little group up. Weasley, come down here. Miss Granger, you can move next to Mr Krum. Potter, stay there. This will be your seating arrangement for the rest of the year. No arguments."

Ron threw his book into his bag and marched toward the front, sitting at a desk next to the Durmstrang students who were eying him with interest.

Hermione stood up and carried her things to Krum's desk. She left one seat between them and gave him a small smile as she sat down. _Our new seating arrangement for the entire year!, _Hermione thought. She didn't know how Ron and Harry would survive without cheating off of her notes.

Snape finished talking about the Unforgiveable Curses uninterrupted and told them to work in pairs to write about the origins of the curses and famous cases where a perpetrator was caught and punished.

Hermione turned to Krum who was twiddling his quill between his fingers.

"Hi," she said awkwardly. "I'm Hermione."

"Viktor," Krum replied, finally looking up to meet her eye. "I am sorry you have been split up from your friends and have to sit with me."

This caught Hermione by surprise.

"Oh, no, no," she replied quickly. "It's fine. Honestly, it happens a bit in Snape's class, he's quite strict."

"You are lucky," Krum said, "that the punishment you get is being split up. At Durmstrang, it would have been much harsher."

He continued to twiddle his quill but did not elaborate. Hermione cleared her throat.

"Do you like it there?" she asked.

"No. It is cold and dark and there is a wide range of students from all different backgrounds. You never quite know who you are dealing with. The teacher's too," Krum said quickly.

Hermione stared.

"I enjoy it very much when I am not there," Krum continued. "My Quidditch often takes me away. I had to travel with my team a lot last year and so have to repeat some sixth year classes, including this one. I know all the answer to Professor Snape's questions, by the way. We at Durmstrang learn about the Unforgiveable Curses in our third year."

Hermione felt a rush of sympathy toward Krum. He appeared very awkward and it did not seem he knew how to interact well with people his own age. She knew he had been a Quidditch star since he was young and so would have probably grown up around people much older than him.

They began working on the problems together, focusing completely on the school work. Thanks to Krum's knowledge around the Curses, they did not need to consult the textbook at all and were the first to finish.

Hermione started to roll up her piece of parchment when a loud laugh from the front of the class echoed from the Durmstrang students. Krum shook his head and scowled at them.

"This is a joke to them," he said, before Hermione could ask.

"Are they your friends?" she said.

"No. I do not tolerate dark wizards. I would not be surprised if some of them have used these curses before."

"_What?" _Hermione gasped. "But… they couldn't be older than seventeen?!"

"That does not matter to some wizarding families," muttered Krum. "When you grow up in an environment like that, your first kill is seen as an honour."

"Surely they haven't killed!?"

"I do not know."

They sat in silence for a moment, Hermione's mind racing. Krum seemed to notice that the silence was a bit awkward and changed tact.

"Will you enter the tournament?" he asked.

"Um, I'm not sure," Hermione replied, now very much doubting entering if she would have to compete against suspected murderers.

"I think it is a good idea. I like Hogwarts. It is a welcoming place and I trust that we will not be put in danger. No student from Durmstrang with a bad school record was allowed to come," he said, seeming to know her next question before she asked it.

"But you just said… you suspect…"

"Yes, I suspect, but in order to have a record you must first be caught."

Krum twiddled his quill again.

"And," he added, "I heard your headmaster Dumbledore said that the Goblet chooses the champions based on qualities like courage and wit. Dark wizards to do not have these qualities."

This did little to ease Hermione's concerns and she was relieved when her thoughts were punctuated by the bell ringing to signal the end of class.

"For those of you who did not finish," Snape called over the noise of people packing up, "I expect you to do so for homework." He looked pointedly at Ron before turning around to erase his notes from the board. Ron pulled the finger to his turned back.

Krum slung his bag over his shoulder and stood up.

"I will see you next time, Hermione."

"Yeah, see you Viktor."

Krum slouched out of the classroom. Hermione turned to Harry about to tell him about her conversation when Ernie piped up.

"I see you are making quite the acquaintance with Mister Krum!" he said in his usual pompous manner. "A grand idea, Hermione. Always good to have friends in high places, if not something more than friends!"

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. She ignored him.

xXx

xXx

"I told you lot!" said Ron as they walked up the staircase in the direction of Charms. Hermione had just explained her conversation with Krum to them. "I told you they would all be bad eggs."

"Did you hear them saying much when you were next to them?" Harry asked.

"Nah, not really. They kept switching between English and Bulgarian. I don't think I saw them raise a quill once, they were just screwing around. Then again, I couldn't focus much 'cos I was working with Justin Finch-Fletchley and he's as dim as a glow worm's armpit so I had to do most of the legwork."

"That's a change then," replied Hermione and Harry laughed.

Suddenly, Hermione's backpack split. She had packed it tight with all of her schoolbooks and they went crashing to the floor, ink spilling and parchment fluttering along the hallway. Hermione groaned and bent down to pick it all up, Harry and Ron leaning to help.

There were not many people around as class was set to start soon and Hermione told the boys to go to Charms and let Flitwick know she was going to be late. After a little protest, they left, leaving Hermione to pick up the last bits of parchment. The hallway was empty now. She used _Repairo _on her bag and started to pack everything back into it.

"Excuse me?"

Hermione turned around and felt her heartbeat quicken slightly. The silver-haired girl from the night before was walking towards her, gazing around at the corridor looking confused. Hermione finished packing her bag and swung it onto her bag.

"Yeah?" she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I am afraid that I am lost," the girl said, smiling slightly. "I am meant to have Charms with a, uh, Professor Fleetwick but I cannot find the classroom."

"Professor Flitwick," Hermione corrected her. "I have Charms now too, we'll be in class together. I can show you the way."

The girl beamed and seemed more beautiful than ever. She fell into step next to Hermione and offered her hand.

"My name is Fleur Delacour," Fleur said, shaking Hermione's hand. "I am a pupil at the Beauxbaton's Academy.

"Hermione Granger. Pupil at Hogwarts."

"_Enchantée."_

Fleur seemed to miss Hermione's attempt at humour and she felt her cheeks redden.

They walked to Charms in silence, Hermione trying to think about what to talk about but her mind for once stayed blank. Fleur held the Charm's door open for Hermione and she entered. Everyone was already seated and the classroom was nearly full. She could see that each desk only had enough room for two people.

"Ah, Miss Granger," Flitwick squeaked, walking towards her with a smile. "Glad you could make it. Please have a seat with Miss…," he consulted his roster, "…Delacour, over there," He pointed to a desk near the window, situated behind Seamus and Dean.

Hermione and Fleur walked over and sat down. Flitwick started the class, explaining that they were going to start the year learning how to do duplication spells. Their task was to duplicate the pebble that he handed to each of them and, after explaining the origin behind the spell and the wand movement, he told them to get practicing.

The classroom erupted into chatter. There were twelve Beauxbaton's pupils in the classroom along with Fleur and they were all sitting with a Hogwarts student. It appeared that Flitwick had told them to do so as to encourage the students to mingle.

"Is this all we will be doing today?" asked Fleur, frowning at the pebble.

"Probably," Hermione replied and was surprised to see Fleur shake her head.

"So we are to spend an entire hour just focusing on duplicating a rock? Surely we should learn more about the spell or work on something a bit bigger!"

Hermione was taken aback at the sudden change in Fleur's tone. She had seemed very warm and friendly before and now was coming across as quite rude.

"Well, do you know how to duplicate things already?" Hermione retorted.

"At Beauxbaton's we learn useful spells," Fleur replied as she took out her textbook, flipping to a page near the back. "When will I ever need a duplication spell? It is a flawed spell, the minute damage is done to the clone it is destroyed! And this Professor Fleetwick said that this is what we will be focusing on for the first part of the year? What a waste of time!"

"Duplication can be _really _useful," Hermione replied, feeling extremely defensive toward Hogwarts. "It can help get you out of tight situations."

"I would much rather learn an offensive charm than a defensive one," replied Fleur, pointing to the page she had flipped to. "Like this one, a charm to create and control a fire vortex. THAT is something I could use to help, not creating a useless duplicate. If this is the kind of education they give at Hogwarts than I shudder to think how inept the Hogwarts champion will be!"  
Hermione was really annoyed now and let it show on her face. Fleur was making such sweeping generalisations that were not at all true and if there was one thing Hermione hated, it was being called _inept. _

"Defensive charms are just as useful as offensive charms," Hermione said coolly. 'You need a balance of both."  
Fleur laughed. "Hermione, you must not have been in a fight before."

"Actually," Hermione replied, "I have. And I have a very good friend who has been in more than me and he uses defensive charms more than anything and he's still here.

"You are speaking about Harry Potter?" said Fleur. "His reputation precedes him, he is known for his fighting style and it is predictable. You should tell him to change things up or he will not be here much longer."

Hermione glared at Fleur; did she just make a threat? Who had been saying these things about Harry? Had Ron been right earlier on when he said they couldn't trust the other schools?  
"How do you know I'm talking about Harry?" Hermione asked. She felt a twinge of satisfaction when she saw Fleur's face flush slightly.

"I have seen you together," she said quickly. "You and the red-headed boy who stares a lot are always with him. Everyone knows who Harry Potter is and so he is quite the point of interest."

"And how do you know about his fighting style?" Hermione asked.

"It is well known within certain…circles. I am not part of such things but some close to me are so I hear them without wishing to." Fleur shifted slightly in her seat and dropped her gaze. "I am just saying, in order to protect yourself it is important to know how to fight. Especially in these times, with what may be to come…"

Hermione turned back to her book and read through the article about the duplicate spell. She actually already knew the spell, having learnt at the end of last year in preparation for this year, but she wanted something to do while her mind raced.

Beauxbaton's didn't have a reputation for producing dark wizards, but there were exceptions for everything. This was the second time today she had been warned about the other schools; first by Krum and now Fleur. Hermione felt quite uneasy; was Dumbledore sure that they should be here?

At that moment, Flitwick approached their desk and asked to see the charm being performed. To Hermione's satisfaction, Fleur could not duplicate the pebble properly; the copy was red whereas the original was grey.

"Practice is all you need to do, Miss Delacour!" Flitwick said encouragingly. Fleur clenched her jaw. "Miss Granger, your turn."

"_Geminio_," Hermione said as she pointed her wand at the pebble and immediately a perfect replica sprung up next to it.

"Excellent, Miss Granger! 10 points to Gryffindor," Flitwick said, clasping his hands together. "Once again the first in the class to master the spell, have you been practicing?"

"Yes sir," replied Hermione. "The biggest object I've managed to clone is a chair."

"Wonderful! Take another five points. You should be ready to move on to living creatures soon! Maybe you could help Miss Delacour to practice?" Flitwick strode off and Fleur turned slowly to Hermione.

"You are very good at that," Fleur said quietly. "Are you going to enter the tournament?"

"I haven't decided yet," Hermione replied casually. "Thought I might be a bit too, ah, _inept_."

Fleur blushed and shook her head.

"I am sorry, I used a poor choice of words before. It is stressful being at this school where your system is different to ours. I hear whispers about things and I worry that we will not be as prepared as we should be."

"What kind of whispers?" Hermione asked.

"From those outside this castle. People are talking. Now that the one you call You Know Who is back, people do not feel safe. If he were to attack and take over the Ministries of Europe, then we must be prepared to fight. Killings are starting to happen more often and powerful wizards are falling to him. It is hard to care about a cloning spell when a more aggressive spell could save a family member's life."

Hermione's annoyance at Fleur subsided. Even though Beauxbaton's was based in France, it became clear that Voldemorts influence had stretched through Europe and no one felt safe.

Fleur flicked her wand and the rock shot across the desk and hit the back of Seamus' head.

"Ah, fuck!" said Seamus, turning around and rubbing his head. "Watch where you point that thing-, oh." He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes fell on Fleur. She stood up and picked up the rock.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "It is harder than it looks."

"Yeah, yeah it is," said Seamus, unable to stop staring at her. "Don't worry about it, didn't hurt that much. I can help you practice if you want?"

"That is very kind but I have Miss Granger and she is very good, I will be a professional in no time."

Fleur came back to the desk and Hermione saw Dean shake his head at Seamus. Fleur sighed as she sat down and pointed her wand at the pebble again. Hermione couldn't help herself.

"You're doing the movement wrong," she burst out. Fleur looked at her.

"You're kind of doing a swoop at the end and it needs to be more of a flick," Hermione continued.

"Like this?" said Fleur, trying an over exaggerated flicking motion.

"No…" replied Hermione. "That's too much. If you loosen your wrist a bit it may help. Here." Hermione reached out and wrapped her fingers around Fleur's wrist to guide it to the correct motion. Hermione had to reach over Fleur's body to do this and she was very aware of how close they were. She could smell her perfume; it carried hints of jasmine and vanilla.

Hermione quickly let go off Fleur's wrist now she had shown her the movement and told her to try again.

"_Geminio_!" Fleur said and the next moment, a perfectly duplicated pebble sat next to the original. Fleur's face lit up and Hermione smiled.

"Oh, excellent!" exclaimed Fleur, beaming at Hermione. Once again, she seemed to glow with more beauty than ever and Hermione had to force herself to stop thinking about it.

"That was perfect!" Hermione gushed.

"Knew you could do it!" Seamus said from in front of them. Dean punched him on the shoulder.

"You should enter the tournament," said Fleur, admiring the pebble on the desk and ignoring Seamus. "You are obviously very good at magic, I think you would have a great chance. Well, against the Ilvermorny and Durmstrang champions, not the Beauxbaton's one," she smiled coyly. "And, well, you can show everyone that the good guys have what it takes to win, especially when competing against wizards from Durmstrang."

Hermione smiled but did not reply. The bell rang soon after and they packed up their things and walked out the classroom.

"The Goblet is being lit tomorrow morning, yes?" said Fleur, turning to Hermione. "I will see you then?"

"Yeah, yeah probably," said Hermione without realising the words tumbling out of her mouth.

At that moment, the dark haired girl from Ilvermorny called out to Fleur and approached. They hugged and Fleur held her hand and turned her to Hermione.

"Hermione, this is Tess. She is an old friend, we have known each other for many years. Tess, this is my new friend. She is an excellent student, you will have to watch out for her in the tournament."

Tess smiled and greeted Hermione

"That's if I get picked, Fleur," Tess said sheepishly.

"Of course you will, don't be ridiculous," Fleur replied, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Tess stared entranced for a moment before snapping out of it.

"Come on," Tess said, "we've got to get to Herbology. Nice to meet you, Hermione."

They walked off together, still holding hands, and once again Hermione felt a little pang of jealousy.

Eventually, Ron and Harry walked out of the classroom, Ron holding a purple leaf in his hand.

"Well, it's not a pebble," said Ron, showing Hermione the leaf. "But in my opinion, I would rather have a leaf than a pebble so I think I've upgraded it. Flitwick should've given me full marks."

"If we were in Transfiguration, you would've been top of the class," said Harry. "Hermione, how was sitting next to the Veela?"

"Interesting," replied Hermione as they began to walk to Transfiguration. "I have quite a bit to tell you guys, she said some strange things."

"Sounds better than my lesson," said Ron. "I was sitting next to a French guy, barely spoke a lick of English except to ask me if I'd been checked for Spattergroit."

Harry and Hermione laughed.

The sun streamed into the castle as they walked along the corridors and Hermione felt herself in high spirits. She couldn't explain why, but she was really looking forward to the next morning. Harry looked at her, inquisitively.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Oh nothing," replied Hermione, happily. "The suns out, classes have been interesting. Oh, and I've decided I'm going to enter the Triwizard Tournament."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, of course you're going to enter, when was that ever a question?"

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting in the Gryffindor common room talking about their days. Ginny had just finished telling them about how Luna had burnt off her own eyebrows in Transfiguration when Harry mentioned that Hermione planned to enter the Triwizard Tournament.

"Who else would have been Hogwarts champion?" Ginny said. "I know Katie Bell is going to enter, she would be alright. I heard rumours that Ernie is going to enter but he has no guts, he wouldn't get it. You're a shoe-in, Hermione."

Hermione smiled weakly; she was starting to have doubts about entering now. Word had spread quickly that she was planning to compete and multiple people had come up to her in the hallways to congratulate her. They all seemed surer about it than she was.

"I for one can't wait for you to show that Durmstrang crowd how a real witch does it," said Ron. He was scrawling away at Snape's homework, furiously crossing out sections that Justin Finch-Fletchley had written. "You've heard first hand today what a bad bunch they are. Krum doesn't seem so bad, though."

"Viktor Krum could curse the pants off of you and you would still worship the ground he walks on," Ginny retorted. "He might've just been saying the right things to try and get into Hermione's good books. Same with the Delacour girl."

"No," Hermione replied quickly. "They both seemed genuine in what they were saying. Neither of them seemed that focused on the tournament though, I'm surprised they're entering."

"Yeah well, you said they both seemed concerned about safety so maybe that's why they're here, Dumbeldore's protection," Harry said. He was finishing up the essay that Professor McGonagall had set them and was writing as large as possible to try to fill up the parchment. "What's another exception to Gamp's law of Elemental Transfiguration?"

"Food," Hermione replied, setting down her quill having just finished the essay herself.

The common room was packed as per usual. Most of the students were doing homework, though the noise level was still high. It was extremely hard to focus and Hermione decided she would do her homework in the library from now on.

Ron threw down his quill and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Merlin, this essay is doing my head in!" he exclaimed. "Do you reckon if I wrote Harry's name as the answer on how to survive Avada Kedavra that Snape would mark it correct?"

"I think he'd give you detention for about a week, mate," Harry replied, stretching and looking around the common room. He made eye contact with Neville and waved. To his horror, Cormac Mcglaggen, who was sitting behind Neville, waved back and took it as an invitation to come over.

"Good evening, Harry. Good day of classes?" Cormac said, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder like a father to his son. Harry shrugged it off.

"Yeah, fine," Harry replied.

"Ah, Hermione!" Cormac boomed, pretending he had just noticed her and hadn't been staring at her for the past twenty minutes. "You look well. A little birdie told me you were chatting up Krum in Defence class. If you were into Quidditch players, you should've told me!" He puffed out his chest in an attempt to look impressive.

"Why would she have told you that," Ginny retorted. "You can't even make a school team let alone a-"

"I also heard you plan to enter the tournament," Mcglaggen continued, cutting Ginny off. "Just so you know, you'll have some tough competition in getting selected as I am also going to enter."

"Where is the tough competition, exactly?" Ginny enquired, a look of annoyance on her face for being cut off. Hermione laughed and Mcglaggen seemed taken aback at her ability to resist his charms.

"Well, um, yes," stammered Mcglaggen. "I heard you have also made friends with the Beauxbaton's girl, the Veela. What's her deal?"

"You seem to hear a lot of things, Cormac," Hermione said, reaching into her bag for her Arithmancy book.

"That's what happens when you have many friends!" Cormac replied smugly. "Put in the good word for me with her, will you?" He strode off back to his corner where he was sitting alone, a victorious expression on his face.

"May we all have the confidence of Cormac Mcglaggen," said Ron, shaking his head and returning to his essay.

Hermione opened her Arithmancy book to the page she marked, deep in thought.

Since Charms, a large number of the boys in the year had asked her about Fleur. Instead of talking to her themselves, they wanted Hermione to give them tips on how to approach her. Ron had joked that it bothered Hermione because all the boys were looking at Fleur and not her, but Hermione could not have cared less about that.

Fleur had seemed genuine when they spoke. She was strong-willed but seemed kind and there appeared to be a lot of depth to her. She was so much more than her looks and it bothered Hermione that people had no interest in getting to know that side of Fleur. For some reason, she felt ever so slightly protective of her.

Hermione's thoughts were punctuated by a loud bang. She looked up to see Neville covered in soot, apparently having accidentally exploded the pebble he had been trying to duplicate. The common room filled with laughter and Hermione closed her book, deciding it best to give up on homework for the night.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The next morning, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting at breakfast watching the crowd around them. Dumbledore had just lit the Goblet of Fire and it stood toward the front of the Great Hall. Bright blue flames were protruding from it and a large group of students from all schools were standing around the edge, waiting their turn to drop their slip of parchment into it.

The Durmstrang students had all just finished entering, leaving the hall together in a single file. Krum was toward the back, hands in his pockets and putting a slight amount of space between himself and his schoolmates. As they walked past the table, Krum made eye contact with Hermione and nodded. She smiled back at him. Ron sighed with envy.

The student's from Ilvermorny were next. Tess was at the front of the line and strode forward confidently to drop her name into the Goblet. Hermione noticed that Tess was extremely lean; she had the physique of an athlete and her skin was lightly bronzed. She flashed a perfectly white smile at her classmates as she walked back and Hermione felt herself feeling slightly self-conscious.

As Cedric stepped up to drop his name in, applause broke out from the Hogwarts students around him. He smiled sheepishly and put up his hand in thanks; he appeared to have made quite a name for himself already.

The last of the Ilvermorny students dropped their name in and they began to leave the Hall in unison. Cedric stopped next to where Harry was sitting and took the seat next to him. Slightly surprised, Harry raised his eyebrows at him.

"Hey, Harry," Cedric said. "Hermione, Ron, Ginny. How's it going?"

"Er, fine?" replied Harry, still looking perplexed.

"Good, good. Hey, are you planning on entering?" Cedric asked Harry. Harry shook his head; he had very much decided he wanted to avoid more attention as much as he could.

"Fair enough," said Cedric, sitting up straighter and seeming quite pleased. "Could be quite dangerous huh? Better to stay on the safe side."

"Wha- that's not the reason," Harry replied, somewhat annoyed. Cedric put his hands up in surrender like position.

"Your reasons are your reasons man; it's got nothing to do with me. I think it's a good move though for you to stay out of it. See you in Potions?" And without waiting for an answer, he stood up and strode out of the hall. Harry whirred around to Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

"Okay, now I'm going to enter," Harry said, only half-jokingly.

"He's probably just trying to wind you up, ignore him Harry," Ginny said, her mouth filled with cereal.

"Yeah, or making sure you don't enter so he doesn't have to compete against you," added Ron. "Little does he know, we have someone better entering!" He patted Hermione on the back, beaming at her.

"Harsh, mate," Harry muttered.

They continued to watch as Hogwarts students now stepped up to the Goblet. As expected, Katie Bell and Cormac Mcglaggen both entered, along with Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Dean Thomas, Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy (to Harry's disgust), Terry Boot, Susan Bones and Parvati Patil.

Hermione had not expected so many entries from Hogwarts and knew that there must be more seventh years that had entered too.

Luna came wandering over to them and sat down in the seat that Cedric had left vacant. She was sporting bright blue eyebrows that were curved upwards which gave her a permanent look of utmost concern. Ginny glanced at her and started to choke on her cereal.

"Hello," Luna said wistfully. They greeted her back.

"Luna," said Ron, trying to keep his voice steady. "Uh, what have you done to your eyebrows?"

"Well you see Ronald," Luna replied, "I unfortunately burnt them off and Madam Pomfrey asked me how I wanted them regrown and this was the most logical choice."

Ron gaped at her.

"Lots of students entering, aren't there?" said Luna, continuing as if Ron hadn't even spoken. "Though, I don't know why most of them are, they are terrible at magic. I saw Blaise mess up _Wingardium Leviosa _the other day." She turned to Hermione.

"I heard you were going to enter? And Ronald?"

"Yeah," Hermione said, trying to look into her eyes and not at her eyebrows. "Yeah, we are but we're going to wait until the Hall empties out a bit."

Luna nodded gently with her eyes closed. She kept them closed for so long that they turned back to watch the Goblet once more.

After ten more minutes, the Hall was nearly empty as students headed off to class. Hermione and Ron both wrote their names on separate pieces of parchment and stood up. They walked up to the Goblet and looked at each other nervously.

Hermione was starting to have second thoughts; she was only in her sixth year after all and she didn't want to compete against seventh years. They would know so much more magic than her after all and what if she embarrassed herself?

Hermione opened her mouth to tell Ron she had changed her mind when the doors to the Great Hall banged open. They whipped around and saw the entire Beauxbaton's class striding toward them, Maxime at the head of the group. The stopped ten feet away from Ron and Hermione and waited, Maxime with her eyebrows raised as if to tell them to hurry up.

Ron quickly dropped his piece of parchment into the Goblet and scurried back to the Gryffindor table. Hermione was frozen to the spot. All eyes from Beauxbaton's were on her. They all looked so much older and wiser than her; did she really think she could take any of these students on?

"Well?" Maxime said loudly, breaking Hermione out of her trance. "Are you entering or not?"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply when her eyes feel on the familiar silver-haired girl now standing beside Maxime. Fleur smiled encouragingly and nodded her head, ignoring the looks of bemusement from her classmates.

Hermione felt herself unfreeze and some warmth returned to her body. _Of course I can do this, _she thought. She promptly turned around, dropping the parchment into the Goblet, feeling a rush of adrenaline as she did so. She walked back to Gryffindor table as Harry and Ginny whooped and couldn't help but smile.

"Shut up you two," Hermione said, still smiling. "Come on, we're going to be late for class." They picked up their bags and headed out into the Entrance Hall, waving goodbye to each other. Hermione headed outside toward Care of Magical Creatures while the others climbed the staircase toward the third floor.

Harry and Ron had both given up Care of Magical Creatures but Hermione had decided to persevere with it. She hadn't picked a career after Hogwarts yet and decided to keep her subject range quite broad.

"Hermione!"

Hermione turned around and saw Fleur running across the lawn toward her. She was emitting that breathtaking glow again and other students were watching her as she ran past. Michael Corner had dropped his books on Terry Boot's foot who was yelping in pain.

Hermione stopped and let Fleur catch up to her. To her surprise, Fleur enveloped her in a tight hug but let go quickly.

"You did it, you entered!" Fleur said somewhat breathlessly.

"Y-yeah," Hermione stammered, still recovering from the sudden embrace. Her head felt slightly light headed and she was finding it very hard to focus. Fleur was looking at her quizzically but then something dawned on her face.

"Oh, I am sorry," Fleur said quickly and the glow emanating from her dulled right down. Hermione's head cleared somewhat and Fleur looked sheepish.

"What is that?" asked Hermione.

"It happens when I have… high emotions,' Fleur replied slowly. "It is a… genetic condition. Usually I have it under control but if I am happy or nervous or excited I sometimes forget to keep it toned down..."

"That makes sense," Hermione replied. "Right now you must be extremely excited having just entered your name into the Goblet!"

"Wha- I, oh, yes of course," Fleur stammered. "Yes, very exciting." She stood somewhat awkwardly for a moment. They could hear Terry Boot now yelling at Michael Corner.

"So… what class do you have now?" Hermione asked. Fleur's face darkened.

"Divination," she huffed. "I am finding it to be a complete waste of time. The teacher, Trelawney, she has not one ounce of Seer in her! She told me in our first class that I am to watch out for a dark presence of someone close to me. How vague!" Fleur tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "And we share that class with Durmstrang, which I do not like."

"You're like my friend, Ron" Hermione said, attempting humour. "He doesn't know anyone from Durmstrang either but he thinks they're all bad sorts."

"Oh, I know students from Durmstrang," Fleur replied and a shadow fell across her face. "I do not wish to know any more. That school and its teachings has caused great pain in my life."

Hermione stared at Fleur who seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. As far as Hermione was aware, Beauxbaton's and Durmstrang had nothing to do with each other. They were situated in separate parts of Europe and historically did not mix due to cultural and magical differences, so how did Fleur know so many of them?

Fleur seemed to become aware that Hermione was looking at her and forced a smile onto her face.

"But enough of that," said Fleur calmly. "I must go to class. I hope to see you in Charms?"

"Yeah, of course," Hermione replied. Fleur seemed like she was going to say something more but simply smiled, turned on her heel and strode back toward the castle.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The din in the Great Hall was nearly deafening. Tonight, the Goblet was to choose its champions. Every student from all the schools was packed in to the Hall and the atmosphere was heavy with excitement.

Ilvermorny were once again sitting at Gryffindor table and Cedric had squeezed himself next to Ginny. They had struck up a quick friendship as Cedric was in Ginny's Transfiguration class. Harry liked to make jokes about the fact that Cedric had to repeat a fifth year class but stopped them quickly when he realised it did not amuse Ginny.

Cedric was chattering to everyone around him, his nerves very apparent.

"So, when do you think the Goblet will have decided?" he asked Neville quickly, who was sitting on his other side. Before Neville could open his mouth to answer, Cedric had already turned to Hermione who was across from him.

"Must be soon, Dumbledore said it didn't need much longer."

"Yeah, maybe-," Hermione started to answer but Cedric cut her off.

"Which school do you think it'll pick first? Probably Hogwarts, you are the hosts after all. Could be anyone though, it doesn't have a bias. Does it even know how to differentiate the schools? What if more than one champion per school gets chosen? I guess they would have to compete, in the rulebook for the tournament it says-"

"Holy shit, Cedric," Ginny interrupted. "Take a minute to breathe! It will happen when it happens!

Cedric nodded frantically and fell silent, wringing his hands.

Looking around the hall, Hermione could see plenty of nervous faces. Ernie appeared to be a delicate shade of green, Dean Thomas was biting his nails and Blaise Zabini was tapping his wand against his leg impatiently.

The Durmstrang students had finished their food and were all staring at the Goblet, no one speaking to each other.

Hermione was feeling slightly nervous too. She wasn't sure whether she wanted her name to be called or not. Over the past couple of days she had gone back and forth over whether she wanted to be the champion. It held a lot of responsibility and she didn't know what to expect, but on the other hand she did love a challenge.

Dumbledore stood up and the noise around the Great Hall stopped so suddenly it was like someone had pressed the mute button.

"I believe the Goblet has made its decision," Dumbledore said. An excited buzz went around the Hall as Dumbledore extinguished the candles with a wave of his wand. The only source of light was now the Goblet, its blue flames stretching high toward the ceiling.

Suddenly, the flames turned a blazing red and a piece of parchment fluttered from the top. A collective gasp went around the Hall as Dumbledore grabbed it, holding it closer to the Goblet to use the light from the flames.

"The champion for Durmstrang…," Dumbeldore said loudly, "is Viktor Krum!"

Applause erupted around the hall as Krum stood. Dumbledore directed him to a chamber to the side of the Great Hall and he disappeared through the door.

Hermione felt a rush of relief; Krum had been right, the Goblet hadn't chosen a dark wizard. She glanced over at the Durmstrang table. They looked disappointed and one of the students had stabbed his knife into the table. She was pleased he had not been selected.

The Goblets flames blazed red once again and another piece of parchment shot out. Dumbledore grabbed it once again.

"The champion for Beauxbaton's is Fleur Delacour!"

More applause erupted around the Hall. Hermione felt a huge smile on her face as she applauded hard. Fleur rose from her seat at the Ravenclaw table, the strange aura glowing vivaciously from her. No one in the Hall could take their eyes off her as she disappeared into the chamber. Hermione watched the door long after it closed.

For a third time, the Goblet turned red and Dumbledore grabbed the parchment. He smiled.

"The champion for Hogwarts is… Hermione Granger!"

People might have been applauding but Hermione couldn't hear them. She was in an intense state of shock that was rooting her to her seat. She could vaguely sense that people around her were standing up and cheering but she couldn't quite fathom it was for her.

_Oh shit, I'm in the tournament_, she thought.

She could feel someone patting her on the back and looked up to see Harry's beaming face, mouthing some words about a chamber.

_The chamber, I have to go to the chamber_.

Hermione rose slowly and began walking to the front. She could see all the teachers at the table beaming at her and she attempted a smile as she entered the chamber.

She heard a squeal as she walked in and Fleur came running up to her, enveloping her in a tight hug. She held on slightly longer than expected and Hermione felt herself relax slightly.

"Oh, I knew you could do it!" Fleur said breathlessly, the glow emitting as brightly as ever from her. "I knew you would get it!"

"Yeah, yeah I can't believe it," Hermione replied, still trying to process what had happened.

"Congratulations," Krum said from the other side of the room. It appeared that he and Fleur had been sitting on opposite sides of the chamber, chairs facing away from each other.

"Thanks, Viktor," she replied. He nodded and turned to stare into the fire.

"The Goblet is taking so long to decide the Ilvermorny champion," Fleur said anxiously. "Oh, I hope Tess gets it. She will be so disappointed if it chooses another."

They waited a couple of minutes in silence. The Goblet was taking much longer than it needed for the other three.

Suddenly, a huge cheer erupted and they knew the champion had been announced. They waited and a few moments later Cedric burst through the door, grinning from ear to ear and pumping the air with his fists.

"We are the champions, my friends!" he shouted, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. Krum did not appear to get the reference. Fleur looked crestfallen.

Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime and Fontaine entered the chamber, all seeming pleased with their champions.

"Congratulations all!" said Dumbledore, his arms wide open. "You have been selected to represent your school as a champion."

Karkaroff nodded at Krum as if his selection was not a surprise.

Maxime, being nearly twice as tall as Fleur, placed her hand on Fleur's shoulder and squeezed it.

Fontaine, on the other hand, whooped and ran toward Cedric, hugging him tightly. They slapped each other on the back a couple of times and Hermione thought she may have seen a tear in Fontaine's eye.

Dumbledore smiled at the scenes around him, winked at Hermione, and continued.

"The first task will occur on November the 24th, about two months from today. On the day of the task, you will be informed as to what you are facing. The only piece of advice I will give is to make sure you have a wide range of skillsets. This tournament will demand the very best of you so you must be up to the challenge every time."

Hermione felt slightly nervous at this; she didn't like the idea of not knowing what she was facing until right before it happened.

"On top of the three tasks," Dumbledore continued, "we will have two events in between that you are all expected to participate in. The Yule Ball will be held in December before the Christmas break. We will also hold a duelling competition before the Easter break."

Hermione ears perked up; a duelling competition? She did not have much experience with duelling as it was forbidden at Hogwarts. At the Dumbledore's Army meetings the previous years they had duelled of course, but that was in a friendly environment. She didn't know what she thought of the idea of duelling those from other schools.

At this announcement, both Fleur and Krum made noises of protest.

"A duelling competition!? Are you insane?" Fleur said, anger etched onto her face.

"I do not think that is a good idea," Krum agreed.

Hermione thought this might be a moment where Fleur overlooked her dislike for Durmstrang to unite with Krum, but she was wrong.

"We cannot duel with people like _him _here," Fleur spat, pointing at Krum. "At Durmstrang they are _all _dark wizards, someone could get seriously hurt!"

Krum whirled around.

"People like _me_?!" Krum shouted back. "You mean people like _you_! You seem to forget your history, Delacour! Yes, that is right," he continued, registering the shock on Fleur's face, "the dirt on your name may not be known in this part of Europe but on our side we know who you are!"

"I- I don't-... you don't-, "Fleur stammered.

"Your family may have tried to run from it but it is legend at Durmstrang," Krum hissed. "We all recognised you as soon as we saw you. You look like her, you know."

"How _dare _yo-"

"The screening process at Beauxbaton's must have been very weak if you were allowed to com-"

"Enough!" Dumbledore boomed and Krum and Fleur fell quiet, silently seething at each other. "Mister Krum, I ensure you that the screening process at Beauxbaton's was as rigorous as the one at Durmstrang. Miss Delacour passed with flying colours and I would implore you to discontinue your accusations at once. If we were all judged by the actions of our family, I believe none of us would be innocent."

Krum looked unconvinced but did not speak. Dumbledore turned to Fleur.

"And Miss Delacour, to accuse every wizard at a particular school of being involved in dark magic is as harmful as being judged because of your family. Some of the purest and greatest wizards and witches have been raised in the evilest of families. You would know better than any that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

Fleur crossed her arms and looked at the floor, tears in her eyes.

"In regards to your qualms about the dueling," Dumbledore continued, injecting a note of softness into his voice. "The competition will be heavily monitored by members of the staff and will only include disarming or stunning. Any student who performs a spell harsher than this will be disqualified and sent home. It is a way to assess the abilities of our students under pressure against foreign challengers. No student will be harmed."

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Hermione's brain was buzzing with what had just happened. Cedric was looking around, swinging his arms uncomfortably at his side. Krum and Fleur were both staring at the floor.

"Well, I think dueling sounds like fun," Cedric said, breaking the silence. "Good way to see where everyone's at, you know? See where the gaps are. Bragging rights between the schools and… stuff like that…"

"Indeed," Dumbledore responded. Karkaroff stepped forward.

"If that is quite all Dumbledore, we will take our leave," he said, beckoning Krum toward him. Without waiting for an answer, they walked out of the room.

Fontaine patted Cedric on the back and, with an awkward wave to the rest of the room, exited together.

Madam Maxime walked out after them, indicating Fleur to come but not waiting for her. Fleur wiped her eyes and with a quick glance at Dumbledore, slowly walked out of the chamber.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said softly, "I ask you to return to Gryffindor Tower. I'm sure a party awaits you."

Hermione nodded and walked out. She could see Fleur near the other end of the hall and had a sudden urge.

"Fleur!" she called out, jogging to close the distance between them. She could see Fleur quickly wipe her eyes again and turn around.

"It has been quite an evening," Fleur said hoarsely once Hermione was near.

"Fleur, I-"

"You do not need to say anything to make me feel better," Fleur interrupted. "I do not need to hear false words of support; I have heard enough of those in my life."

"Honestly, I don't know what Viktor was talking about," Hermione replied. "I just wanted to say that you wouldn't have been chosen if you didn't deserve to be. The Goblet judged you on your courage and wit and strength, qualities that dark wizards don't have. Viktor actually told me that, he will need to be reminded of his own words before he accuses you of something like that again."

Fleur looked slightly shocked and stared at Hermione for a long time. Something seemed to shift in her eyes as she gazed at Hermione's face.

"That is… very kind," Fleur muttered. "Thank you."

"It's true," Hermione replied. They stood in silence for a moment and Hermione had the urge to hug Fleur but then the moment had passed.

"Well, I am going back to the carriage. I will see you soon, I am sure," said Fleur, smiling weakly. She turned and headed out of the doors. Hermione began to walk up the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower, her mind still racing.

From outside, she heard a sorrowful howling. She had never heard the sound before but could guess, with almost certainty, it was coming from the Speropax.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N

Hey guys!

Thanks so much for the reviews/follows/favourites.

If you could please keep reviewing so other people can easily find this fic too, that would be great!

Happy reading.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Blimey, that's a dramatic turn of events, isn't it?" Ron said.

Hermione had just finished telling Harry, Ron and Ginny the scene that had transpired in the chamber. She had entered the Gryffindor common room deep in thought and nearly had a heart attack when the portrait swung open to an explosion of noise.

The entire house had stayed awake until she had arrived and it appeared that a party was in mid-swing. Dean Thomas had told her that this was just the "pre's"; whatever that was supposed to mean.

She had been paraded around the room, bottles of Butterbeer and snacks being thrust into her hands as Gryffindor house celebrated their elected champion.

After twenty minutes of this she had managed to locate Harry, Ron and Ginny and quickly stole away to a corner with them. The party was happening around them; the noise providing perfect cover so they could speak without having to use _Muffliato_.

"So, I'm confused," said Ginny, taking a swig of Knotgrass mead. "Who's the bad guy here? Is it Fleur or Krum or the entirety of Durmstrang?

"No one is the bad guy because at the moment it's just empty words, no one has proven anything," replied Hermione.

"It sounds like Fleur has a rotten family and she's been raised in that environment so the question is, does the apple fall far from the tree?" Ron said, grabbing a Firewhiskey off a tray that a house elf was walking around with. Hermione squirmed; she didn't like to think about that.

"I've never even heard of the Delacour name before," Ginny mused. "If her family are such dark wizards, surely we would've heard about them from someone in the Order? All they talk about are people who are in Azkaban, or people who should be in Azkaban, or people who are going to Azkaban."

"But that's the point isn't it," replied Harry, his mouth filled with crisps. "Not every bad wizard goes to Azkaban, that's just the prison we know. They say that the worst wizards go to Nurmengard which is somewhere in Austria. Our Auror's don't know anything about the policing of that place. Grindelwald's locked up in there; maybe that's where the French send their baddies too?"

"Who knows?" Ron said. "Sounds like Krum really hates Fleur, though. Whatever happened must have been bad."

Hermione nodded and suddenly remembered back to the first night in the Great Hall. She had noticed that some other Durmstrang students were also looking at Fleur with pure hatred. She felt her heart sink. She had been holding on to a slim hope that Krum had been mistaken, yet he wasn't the only Durmstrang student who seemed to have a grudge against Fleur. There must have been some truth to his words.

They continued to talk about their theories over the next hour but none of them held much ground. Hermione found herself defending Fleur during the discussion; she just couldn't see how Fleur could be associated with the Dark Arts. She had been so vehemently against them when they had their discussion in Charms; had that been a cover?

Hermione gazed around the common room as she thought and noticed that it had emptied considerably. Only the younger students remained, looking sulky and scouring the room for unopened bottles of alcohol.

"Party finished quickly," said Hermione, pleased that the noise had died down. When she had been paraded around the common room Lavender Brown had force feed her some shots of Firewhiskey and she felt slightly tipsy.

"Oh, no it hasn't!" Harry exclaimed, smiling as he stood up. "It's only just starting, Hermione."

"But everyone's gone to bed?"

"Nope," said Ginny, standing up and helping Ron to his feet. "Michael Corner and Seamus have been planning this party for a week. They didn't care who got Hogwarts champion, they just knew we had to celebrate."

"Z'in the Room of Requirement," Ron slurred, swaying slightly. He had switched to drinking mead forty five minutes before and appeared to have had quite a few.

"Only people over sixteen will be able to enter the room," Ginny continued. "We just have to walk past the spot and think _take me somewhere I can party _and there it'll be!"

"The other schools have been told about it already," Harry added, checking his reflection in his empty glass. "During classes and mealtimes we spread the word."

"But, it's illegal for us to drink… I don't even know how this much alcohol got in the common room," Hermione said, slightly embarrassed.

As a Prefect, it had irked her to see so many students drinking when alcohol was banned in the castle but she didn't want to ruin the party by scolding them.

"And it's illegal for You Know Who to murder half of England and yet he doesn't seem to mind," Ginny replied. "Crazy times Hermione, we have to live while we can. You don't have to drink if you don't want to."

"But how did you even get that much alcohol?"

"Like I said, Michael and Seamus have been planning this for a week. They reached out to their contacts and smuggled it in slowly over the past couple of days," Harry said, a smile on his face.

"And," Ginny added, "You wouldn't _believe _how much the other schools brought with them. The Americans have literal barrels of Gigglewater. Merlin knows if we hadn't thrown a party they definitely would have."

Hermione hesitated. It wouldn't be a good look as a champion to get drunk and make a fool of herself in front of the other schools. Plus, with the newest allegations about all the supposed Dark wizards about, she didn't know if this was the safest idea…

On the other hand, it would be a great way to relax and meet students from the other schools. That was, after all, the whole point of the Triwizard Tournament. And it might be an opportunity to see Fleur…

Ginny was watching Hermione and could see the worry on her face.

"Hagrid knows about it," Ginny said, causing Hermione's eyebrows to raise in surprise. "If something goes wrong, he'll alert the other teachers. I think McGonagall knows as well but she's pretending not to. Hagrid says he doesn't necessarily _support _us throwing a party but he isn't against it either. He thinks it's important for us to have fun, says it's good to focus on light positive things in times of such darkness."

Hermione was still unsure but could see how eager her friends were to go. Harry kept nodding at her, even when she wasn't speaking. Ginny was looking with pleading eyes and Ron already had one foot out of the portrait hole.

"ONE drink," Hermione said and the other three cheered.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione, Harry, Ron were standing next to the blank wall where the Room of Requirement would present itself.

Ginny, eyes closed, was pacing back and forth in front of it and mouthing the sentence needed to enter.

Hermione looked around nervously; she had a nagging feeling that they were being watched. She thought she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look there was nothing there. She slowly turned back around and a door had appeared.

Ginny let out a hoot of glee and wrenched it open.

Noise hit them like a wall and Hermione's mouth dropped open to what the Room had turned into.

It seemed to be the perfect size for the amount of students who were currently in it. Nearly all of the of-age Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were already inside, with a handful of Slytherins too.

The walls were a deep purple colour and four giant moving posters of Hermione, Cedric's, Krum and Fleur's faces were pinned to one of them

A bar stretched across the wall opposite and Hermione could see barrels of every kind of alcohol she could imagine stacked behind it; Ogden's Old Firewhisky, Butterbeer, Daisyroot Draught, Knotgrass Mead, a collection of Muggle alcohols, HogsHead Brew and many more.

Seamus and Michael Corner were working as bartenders, generously pouring drinks for each student and already appearing to be quite tipsy.

Music was blasting throughout the room though Hermione couldn't see any speakers, and an array of squashy couches were scattered throughout. She could see Padma Patil already asleep on one of them.

Hermione wanted to keep a low profile but was foiled immediately as Ron shouted, "The champ is here!" and raised Hermione's arm in a victorious salute.

The room cheered and swarmed toward her. She politely declined the array of drinks and food that was offered her way, but eventually conceded and took a Butterbeer. She was quite a lightweight when it came to alcohol and she already had a buzz going on that she didn't plan to make worse.

She weaved her way between students, nodding and smiling at the congratulations being thrown her way.

"Over here," Harry said, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward and empty couch. She gratefully let him lead the way and hoped the rest of the guests would leave her alone. Sure enough, she was forgotten as soon as she was out of sight as the Hogwarts students were more focused on partying rather than celebrating those they threw it for.

Hermione and Harry collapsed onto a couch and Harry laughed slightly.

"Jeez, most of the senior class is here," he said, gazing around. Katie Bell approached, stumbling slightly, and offered Harry a shot of Firewhisky.

"Nah, I'm good, Katie," Harry said. "I'm not drinking."

"Oh captain, my captain!" Katie replied, downing the shot and screeching in delight as the song changed.

"Blimey, this is gonna get messy," Harry mused, shaking his head.

"You aren't drinking?" Hermione asked.

"Nah, too many people, so much could go wrong. Plus, I think not having a clear head when there are so many other unknown students around isn't a good idea, especially for me."

"Why did you encourage me to come then!" Hermione said, annoyed. "I thought the same thing but you guilt tripped me into this party that I don't even want to be at!"

"Because I think it'll be good for you to let off some steam," Harry replied, accepting a glass of water that a house elf held out to him. "I've got your back, this is being thrown in your honour, you had to come."

"Honestly, I don't think anyone would have noticed if I didn't come," Hermione retorted, watching as Dean and Terry Boot engaged in an arm wrestling match, students surrounding them and cheering loudly.

"Oh, I think someone would've noticed," Harry said, nodding his head toward the door.

It had opened and Hermione could see a sea of people entering the room in a variety of coloured robes. Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and Ilvermorny had arrived.

They had changed out of their school clothing and were wearing what appeared to be dress robes. They looked much sleeker than the Hogwarts students, many of who were still wearing their school robes and had various drink stains spilled across them.

The room seemed to magically expand to accommodate the influx of people and a cheer went up as the students realised their new guests had entered.

The foreign schools looked around the room in wonder and slowly mingled into the Hogwarts crowd.

Hermione saw Cedric and a few other Ilvermorny students carrying barrels on the shoulders, dropping them behind the bar. Seamus squealed with glee and immediately began pouring drinks to the newcomers and chatting amicably.

Within minutes, Hermione could see a variety of dancing happening on the dancefloor, some of it innocent, some of it not, and she was glad she wasn't part of it.

Ginny appeared at their side and pulled Harry out of his seat toward the throng of dancers. He held out his hand inviting Hermione to join but she shook her head vigorously, pointing to her full drink as if saying that was why she couldn't join.

They walked off and Hermione decided to devise a plan to escape, trying to figure out a route through the crowd that maintained maximum anonymity.

She saw a group of Durmstrang students and thought she may be able to sneak through them when a voice said, "Want some company?"

Hermione looked up and Cedric was standing there, offering her a glass of Gigglewater. He was wearing robes of emerald green and looked as if he had spent hours doing his hair in the mirror.

"Yeah, sure," Hermione said, accepting the drink out of politeness even though she still had a full bottle of Butterbeer.

"See you at the bottom?" Cedric said, clinking his glass with hers and starting to chug it. She was taken by surprise and started drinking hers too, stopping halfway to cough and giggle simultaneously.

Cedric burst out in a fit of hysterics after finishing his, taking a few moments to compose himself as the effects of the giggling drink wore off.

"Man, that was not a smart idea," he said, still chuckling. Hermione nodded her head in agreeance, setting the Gigglewater down and silently noting to not have any more. Cedric smiled warmly.

"So, we're champions huh?" he continued. "This is so exciting, man. I still can't believe it. How awkward was that between Viktor and Fleur in the chamber though!"

"Do you know what they were fighting about?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Nope," Cedric replied. "In the States we hear about what happens in their part of Europe even less than you do. Some of the Ilvermorny students have relatives from there but no one seemed to have much of an idea of what it might've been about. All I know is if Viktor or Fleur offer you a drink, I would decline it."

Hermione glanced nervously at the half empty glass of Gigglewater and realised it was probably not the smartest idea to have accepted a drink from her competitor without seeing it be made. Cedric seemed to read her mind.

"You don't have to worry about me, I'm gonna win this thing fair and square. No dirty tactics on the agenda," he said, smiling at her again.

Hermione liked Cedric and wanted to believe him, though her usually reliable intuition about people had been misfiring lately. Cedric gazed around the room and his eyes stayed on Harry.

"You seem to have quite the interest in Harry," Hermione said, following Cedric's gaze. He asked about Harry often and at mealtimes always seemed to see if the seat next to him were free.

Cedric looked away.

"He's just an interesting guy," Cedric said quickly. "Lots going on for him, lots of stories about him."

"Don't believe everything you hear," Hermione retorted. "The _Daily Prophet _has been printing rubbish about him for years."

"I don't read the newspaper. The stories I here come from… elsewhere."

Cedric went silent and Hermione felt slightly uneasy.

They continued to watch the party around them for a few moments. Many girls approached Cedric asking him to dance, which he politely declined. Hermione got the sense that he was more interested in watching the people around him than actually joining in the party. Was he being protective, or observing for something else?

At that moment, Cedric's friend Hermione had met on the first night came swaying over. He had spilt a red coloured drink on his yellow robes and appeared extremely drunk.

Cedric had not noticed him yet as he was staring again at Harry and the boy stopped in front of Hermione, glaring at her.

"Ced, whaddya doing with her? What would ya family say?" the boy slurred. Surprisingly, he had an English accent.

Cedric's head whipped around to the boy and he got to his feet immediately.

"Now, now, Mikhail," Cedric said quickly, seeming to shield Hermione from the boys view. "No need for that. Champions are allowed to talk to each other."

"Huh?" Mikhail answered, looking around Cedric to where Hermione was now sitting nervously. She inched her hand closer to her wand. "I don't care she's a champion, though in my books she ain't. Must of tricked the Goblet or summin, no way it would've picked someone like her."

"Come on, Mikhail," Cedric said urgently, trying to push him back toward the crowd. "Let's get you some water, huh?"

Mikhail shoved his hand away and pointed at Hermione. She now had a tight grip on her wand and was prepared to conjure any charm that came to mind. She was silently pleased that she was so competent in non-verbal spells.

"You've caused my family a lot of trouble, you know that?" Mikhail continued, spit flying. "You and your scar-headed mate, after what you pulled in the Department of Mysteries last year!

Hermione was on her feet now. Whoever this guy was, he obviously had ties with Death Eater's. Cedric put up his hand to Hermione as if asking her to remain calm and shoved Mikhail with his other hand toward the door.

"Come on, dude," Cedric said forcefully. "Let's go find your friends, sit down somewhere else."

"What would your family say, Ced?" Mikhail yelled back. "If they knew you were on friendly terms with a Mudblood? How embarrassed they would be!"

Cedric opened his mouth to retort when a stern voice from beside them said, "I think it is time for you to leave."

Hermione turned and Fleur was standing there, her wand pointing between Mikhail's eyes. Mikhail stared at her in confusion and Cedric took the opportunity to grab him around the shoulders and force him toward the door. Hermione could see them arguing as they went.

The party had continued around them, not noticing the duel that had very nearly happened. Hermione felt herself shaking with adrenaline and rage. She couldn't believe that had just happened; Mikhail being drunk was no excuse to call her a slur. And why did he think it was such a big deal that Cedric was talking to her? Surely he _too _didn't have ties to dark magic?

Hermione realised that Fleur was watching her and she turned to give her an unconvincing smile.

Fleur saw straight through it, summoning a nearby house elf who was carrying a bottle of wine, conjured two glasses, and indicated they sit down.

Hermione obliged, accepting the full glass of wine and taking three large gulps. She knew she would regret that in the morning but after what had just happened, she felt alcohol was needed.

"He was out of line," Fleur said at last, glaring at the door Cedric and Mikhail had exited. "To use an insult like that toward a brilliant witch. He must be insecure in his own ability, he did not get selected as a champion after all."

"People have used that word against me before, it doesn't affect me the way it does others because I didn't grow up hearing that slur," Hermione said slowly. "I'm not ashamed of my bloodline. But, he said that Cedric's family would be embarrassed of him talking to someone like me. Do you know what he would've been talking about?"

Fleur paused slightly and took a thoughtful sip of wine.

"I have heard rumours of the Diggory family, yes" she replied. "I know they are a very powerful wizarding family in America. His grandfather was a politician and is very famous for the anti-Muggle policies he brought in."

"Which I'm guessing includes being anti-Muggleborns too?" Hermione said, feeling her heart sink. Cedric had been so kind to her, she found it hard to believe that he came from a family who held such old fashioned beliefs. Fleur seemed to read her mind.

"If there is one thing I know," Fleur replied gently, "it is to not judge someone on their family's history."

Hermione looked up but Fleur was staring determinedly at her glass of wine.

"What history does you fami-," Hermione started but Fleur cut her off.

"It is a time of celebration," she said quickly. "We should not talk about such sad things. How are you feeling about the first task?"

"Nervous," Hermione replied. "The fact we have no idea what to expect until the day drives me insane. How are we supposed to know what to practice! Or what charms will be useful! Magic is limitless and there are so many intersections of spells that rely on knowledge of another spell before you can learn it, what happens if we need to know that but don't realise it yet? Also, how are supposed to work out a strategy in terms of defensive or offensive if we- what?"

Hermione cut herself off as Fleur was smiling at her coyly. Fleur shook her head.

"You are cute when you are nervous," she said and Hermione felt herself blush. She took a large gulp of wine to try and hide how flustered she was and ended up choking slightly on it. _Smooth move_, she thought to herself.

"I think it best to not overthink it all too much," Fleur said, graciously pretending she didn't notice Hermione's flustered manner. "We already have a large amount of knowledge from our schooling and it is best to not lose our head in the moment. There will be times when something unexpected may occur and you just have to adapt. I am sure you already have experience in this."

Hermione thought back over her last five years of education; unexpected happenings were something she was an expert in. She felt herself calm slightly.

The alcohol was swirling in her brain and she now felt confident enough to look at Fleur for longer than a couple of seconds at a time.

She was wearing robes of midnight blue which seemed to make her eyes shine even brighter. Her hair was twisted into a loose braid down her back and she wore no makeup. Golden bracelets glittered up her right arm and Hermione could see a small tattoo on her left wrist. Her eyesight was too fuzzy to see it properly.

Suddenly, as if realising it was being watched, the tattoo quickly moved up Fleur's arm and out of sight.

Fleur glanced down as if she felt the tattoo move and looked up at Hermione, making eye contact. Hermione instantly felt butterflies in her stomach but willed herself to not break her gaze. Fleur smiled slightly and the faint glow started to emit from her body.

It was too much for Hermione and she broke the eye contact, looking to her hands.

"You know," Hermione said, trying to focus. "You have this way of calming people down and then making them nervous again within the same moment."

"By "people", do you mean yourself?" Fleur replied.

"No, I-I mean yes, but I'm sure to other people too."

"It only happens to the people I want it to happen to."

Hermione looked up and locked eyes once again.

"That's not fair," Hermione said, feeling embarrassed at how sulky she sounded. "We don't all have a genetic charm to do that kind of thing."

"It has nothing to do with magic," Fleur replied, raising an eyebrow playfully. "Well, I guess being naturally charming is its own form of magic."

"So you're not doing some kind of charm right now?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe you just find me naturally alluring?"

Hermione could feel her heartbeat start to pick up. This conversation had taken a turn so quickly and she was terrible at flirting.

But why was she thinking about flirting? She had never been attracted to another woman before. Well, not counting a fifth year girl she had seen in the library one time when she was a third year. Or the summer just been when she couldn't take her eyes off of Tonks when she appeared at The Burrow one day as an attractive blonde.

She had had some crushes on boys growing up. In pre-school she held hands with Mark Jurkovich and in primary school she had been dared to kiss Thomas Gerrard. Since then, she had never met a boy that held her interest for very long. She didn't find conversation with them particularly interesting and found many couldn't match her in intellect or interests.

She found it much easier relating to woman and that's what she drew her attraction down to. After all, it's natural to be drawn to those that you are similar to.

Fleur leaned back on the couch and put her arm across the back, inches away from Hermione's shoulders.

"I do possess old magic, Veela magic," Fleur continued, "but I do not use it to influence anyone into liking me. I let them realise that on their own."

"Awfully confident of you," Hermione said, laughing nervously. Fleur shrugged.

"Too many people in this world miss opportunities because they are too afraid to make the first move," Fleur replied.

Hermione felt Fleur's arm shift closer to her shoulders and she lost her nerve. She chugged her wine and leant forward, away from Fleur's advancing arm.

"I'm not like that," Hermione burst out. "I-I'm flattered, but I don't… swing that way."

To Hermione's surprise, Fleur began to laugh.

"You don't swing that way?" Fleur said, still laughing. "What does that mean?"

"You know," Hermione said sheepishly. "I don't like girls like that. Well, I haven't really before."

"You "haven't really" before?"

"I mean, there have been times when I've wondered, but I haven't thought about what it may mean…"

"That is your problem, Miss Granger," said Fleur, removing her arm from behind the couch and using it to refill both of their glasses. "You think too much. You English are too interested in finding meaning and labels for everything. Sometimes you have to focus on what you're _feeling _and figure it out from there."

Hermione paused. That was not something she was used to, she was best at finding logical reasons for everything, be it magical or personal. She had never relied on a feeling to guide her to the solution.

"And in terms of which way someone "swings"," Fleur continued, "it is not absolute. We all operate on a spectrum that can move in any direction at any time."

"Try telling that to people in the Muggle world," Hermione retorted. "It's the '90s, being... fluid like that is not something a lot of people are open about."

"That is the Muggle world," Fleur replied. "You are a witch, Hermione, and you belong in our world. And in our world, such things as sexuality do not matter. Look around."

Hermione looked up at the dancefloor. She once again saw all of the schools mingling and dancing but on closer observation, realised what Fleur was talking about.

There were lots of boys dancing with girls, but there was also girls dancing with girls, boys dancing with boys. She could see an Ilvermorny boy kissing a Beauxbatons boy, two Durmstrang girls with their foreheads pressed together, Katie Bell kissing the neck of an Ilvermorny girl. No one was paying attention to them in the slightest; they were all just having a good time.

"I've… never noticed this before," Hermione said slowly. "So, a high percentage of witches and wizards are gay?"

"Again with the labelling!" Fleur said, throwing her hands in the air. "Many do not identify as anything, they just feel what they feel! The wizarding world has never cared about who we love so we do not feel the need to label like they do in the Muggle world."

"Well, you're lucky you got to grow up in an environment like that," Hermione replied. "Where I grew up it was… conservative. When I was nine, a boy called me a "dyke" because I said I didn't want to be his girlfriend. I didn't know what the word meant so I asked my parents and they got flustered and asked if I liked girls. They made it sound like a bad thing so I said no and I think that moment has stuck with me ever since."

Hermione looked at her hands. She had never repeated that story to anyone before as she didn't think it was that important. The fact she hadn't forgotten about it pointed otherwise.

"Moments like those, they stick with you," Fleur said sympathetically. "But one small boy's opinion should not get in the way of discovering who you may be. You say I am lucky to grow up in this world but you must remember we have our own problems. The way magical people talk about blood status, that is the way Muggles talk about sexuality or skin colour. It does not matter and is out of a person's control and yet, so much prejudice occurs from it."

Fleur squeezed Hermione's shoulder lightly and then reached for her glass. She drained it and stretched, glancing toward the dancefloor. Hermione couldn't stop herself from asking.

"So… so you like men and women?"

Fleur laughed and shook her head.

"No, I do not. I only like women. How good they smell, how soft their skin is? How could a man ever compete?"

Hermione felt herself blushing slightly again and Fleur stood up.

"I am going to dance," she said, holding out her hand. "Care to join me?"

Hermione began to stand, realising too late that she was a lot drunker than she realised. She fell back onto the couch and shook her head, pretending she had planned to do that.

"Nah, I'll just hang out here. You go," Hermione shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. A ghost of a smile crossed Fleur's face but the next moment she had turned and was on the dancefloor.

It was almost as if she had used a Summoning Charm, as instantly boys and girls crowded around her. She waved the ones that got too close away and appeared content to dance alone; moving her hips smoothly, dragging her fingers slowly down her body. Hermione was entranced.

Tess walked over and Fleur smiled widely, hugging her. They proceeded to dance together, innocently at first but slowly moving closer. Soon, Fleur had her arms around Tess' neck and Tess had her hands on Fleur's waist, their hips pushed against each other and moving in time to the music. Their faces were inches apart; Tess looked spellbound but Fleur's eyes were closed, entranced by the pumping beat of the music around them.

The rejected boys and girls around them looked disappointedly for new partners.

Hermione felt a curl of jealousy in her stomach as she watched Fleur and Tess dance. She felt stupid for rejecting Fleur's advances, but were they advances? Was she actually flirting with Hermione or just being friendly?

Hermione knew there were people lining up to talk to Fleur, let alone date her, so what made her think Fleur was interested in her? She had her choice of the Witch population, so why would she choose Hermione?

_It must have been in my head_, Hermione thought. She was drunk after all, she probably misread the signs. She felt stupid and was ready to leave.

Standing up and steadying herself, she looked around for Harry, Ron and Ginny.

Ron was asleep on a couch on the other side of the room. Harry was chatting with Neville and Ginny was dancing with a Beauxbatons boy.

Hermione decided it best not to disturb any of them and made her way across the room. The party was still in full swing and no one seemed to notice as she walked by.

The bar was now empty, the alcohol all drunk, and Seamus and Michael were in deep conversation with some Durmstrang boys.

"How could you say the Holyhead Harpies are the best in the League?!" she heard Seamus yell as she walked by.

After much weaving she finally reached the door and wrenched it open, the cool air from the corridor greeting her. The door closed behind her and the noise was instantly cut off

She leant against the wall and rested her pounding head against the cool stone.

The door opened and closed again next to her and she felt a soft hand on her back.

"Do you need some help?" Fleur's voice said. Hermione nodded, her forehead still against the stone.

"You've had enough dancing then?" Hermione asked as Fleur put her arm around her waist. With surprising strength, Fleur moved her away from the wall and pulled Hermione's arm over her shoulder.

"I saw you staggering through the crowd toward the door and wanted to make sure you got back to your dormitory safely," Fleur replied. "You will have to direct me to it. I will leave you once we are safely at the entrance."

"Jus' down this way," Hermione said, pointing ahead, her eyes still closed. They walked along slowly in silence.

Hermione held onto Fleur a bit tighter, though not because she needed more support. Fleur was wearing the same familiar perfume of jasmine and vanilla and she felt soft under Hermione's grasp. A sudden wave of dizziness stole over Hermione's head.

"I am gonna be so sick tomorrow," Hermione sighed and Fleur laughed loudly.

"What's going on here?"

Hermione opened her eyes and to her surprise, Tonks was standing at the end of the corridor. She had her trademark bubblegum pink hair and began walking toward them with her wand out.

"What are you doing?" Tonks continued, glaring at Fleur accusingly.

"I am helping her back to the dormitory, she is not feeling well," Fleur replied coldly.

"Yeah? Well I'll take it from here," Tonks replied equally coolly. Tonks grabbed Hermione's other arm and pulled it over her shoulder.

Fleur let go slowly and stood back, watching as Tonks and Hermione continued down the corridor.

"Goodbye, Hermione," Fleur called. Hermione waved and turned to Tonks.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, trying to appear more sober than she felt.

"You really think you guys were going to throw a party with a bunch of random students from foreign schools without extra protection being put in place?" Tonks replied. "I've been camped out at the end of the corridor under Moody's invisibility cloak most of the night. You actually looked at me earlier in the night just before you entered the Room. I moved and the Cloak slipped slightly and it seemed to catch your eye."

Hermione vaguely remembered this moment from earlier but her mind was still buzzing.

"But how did you kno-?"  
"It wasn't exactly a secret," Tonks interjected. "Parties throughout the Triwizard Tournaments are common, there's no way to stop them so the best we can do is make sure they're safe. If the teachers try to ban it then students will do it secretly anyway. Hagrid told Dumbledore this was happening so he called on some of the Order to come into the castle for extra protection."

"Not to sound rude," Hermione replied. "But don't you have better things to do than supervise a teenage party?"

Tonks laughed.

"Maybe, but this Tournament is important. It's a time where we can improve our bond with other magical schools and start alliances. We're gonna need it with how strong You Know Who is getting. Having parties where the students get to know each other a bit better is good."

"A guy from Ilvermorny called me a Mudblood, said I had messed with his family," Hermione said, frowning. The conversation with Mikhail seemed so long ago now.

"Yeah, well, that kinda stuff is always going to happen when this many different students come together," Tonks sighed. "Can't expect everyone to get along. Speaking of, what were you doing leaving a party alone with the Beauxbatons champion!? She's literally your competition, she could've tried anything!?"

"I wish," Hermione murmured.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and said the password. Tonks removed Hermione's arm from her shoulder.

"Drink lots of water before bed alright? And no more wandering around alone with other schools champions," Tonks said, putting on her best motherly voice.

Tonks waved and strode down the corridor back toward the Room of Requirement. Hermione clumsily climbed into the portrait hole, already dreading the hangover that awaited her the next morning.


	5. Chapter 5

"I swear, for the rest of my life, I will never touch another drop of alcohol," Hermione groaned.

She was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Harry, Ron and Ginny. Breakfast was laid out in front of them and the smell of bacon was making her feel sick.

She had a pounding headache and the noise in the Great Hall wasn't helping in the slightest. Some students around her looked quite unwell as well and there was a noticeable absence of students from the foreign schools.

Harry and Ginny were helping themselves to scrambled eggs and were talking to each other happily. Ron had his head resting on the table.

"The main thing is you had fun," Harry replied. Hermione scowled at him.

"Just go to Pomfrey and get a potion for your hangover, that's what Seamus did," Ginny suggested.

"Then the teachers will know I broke the rules the very same night I was elected as the Hogwarts representative," Hermione retorted.

"So did literally everyone else, they won't care," Harry replied but she shook her head and rested her forehead in her palms.

She had never had a hangover before and they had a full day of classes ahead. _I knew the party was a bad idea_, she thought to herself.

The bell rang loudly to signal the start of classes and benches around her scraped backwards as students rose.

"Why does everyone have to be so _loud_?" Hermione snarled, glaring at little Dennis Creevey as he hurried by.

"Come on party animal," Harry said, picking up her bag for her and slinging it over his shoulder. "Time for Potions, hopefully we won't be doing anything with rats toenails today."

Hermione nearly threw up.

They bade goodbye to Ginny and made their way to the Potions classroom. The students from Ilvermorny that they shared the class with were already.

They found an empty desk toward the back and waved at Dean who usually sat with them. Dean stood up to come to their desk when suddenly Cedric darted into the empty seat next to Hermione, taking his spot. Dean dropped his bag back onto the floor, annoyed.

Hermione looked at Cedric with her eyebrows raised; he always sat with his Ilvermorny friends during this class and before now had never interacted with her during Potions.

"Hey," Cedric said, leaning forward and nodding at Ron and Harry in acknowledgment before turning back to her.

"Uh, hello," Hermione said, confused.

"Look, I want to talk about last night," Cedric said, lowering his voice as Harry and Ron turned their heads to listen. He needn't have bothered though; she had told them everything already.

"You don't have to apologise for your friend," Hermione replied, reaching into her bag for her Potions textbook. Slughorn had begun to write the instructions on the board for the potion they were to make and she didn't particularly feel like talking right now.

"I'm not going to apologise for Mikhail, that's for him to do," Cedric replied. "No, I wanted to talk about what he said about my family, how he said they would be embarrassed that I would be friendly with a Mud-… with you."

He had Hermione's attention now, even though Slughorn was booming out instructions on the intricate wand movement and timing of ingredients that this potion would require.

"Yeah? What about it?" said Hermione, trying to hide her curiosity to find out more.

"My grandfather, he is… bold in his politics," Cedric replied. "He has given my family a name for hating anyone with less than half blood ancestry. The laws he passed, the things he says… I'm ashamed of them. Blood status doesn't matter to me and I hate when people assume just because he's my grandfather that I hold the same values."

"Cedric, you don't have to justify anything to me-," Hermione began but he cut her off.

"I know I don't have to, I want to," he said quickly. "I want you to know that in this war, I'm on your side."

Hermione looked at him quizzically; that was quite a loaded statement and she didn't quite understand what he meant. Before she could ask, the classroom door opened and Luna drifted in holding a note for Slughorn. He smiled at Luna but it quickly turned into a grimace as he saw her eyebrows. He coughed and then turned to the students.

"Mr Diggory, Ms Granger," Slughorn said, still glancing at Luna concernedly out of the corner of his eye. "You are needed for a media event. Please be sure to get the homework off of one of your classmates."

Cedric nodded but Hermione was surprised; a media event? There was nothing in the world she would rather do _less_ than a media event right now. Her head was still pounding and she was finding it very difficult to think properly.

'Time for your close-up," Harry whispered and Ron made hand motions as if he were taking photos of her. She glumly packed up her bag and followed Cedric out of the door.

Hermione wanted to continue the conversation with Cedric but Luna fell into step beside them.

"What did you do to your eyebrows?" Cedric asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, thank you!" Luna replied happily. Cedric, looking bemused, turned to Hermione for some kind of explanation. Hermione stifled a laugh.

"This is fun isn't it!" Luna continued, as though she had answered Cedric's question to the full extent. "Media interviews, you will both be in so many publications! Of course the _Daily Prophet _have sent their reporter to handle it all but my Dad is going to buy the rights to the interview and publish them in _The Quibbler _too! Once that is released, you will be quite the celebrities."

Hermione had to bite down her retort.

"Do you know who the reporter is?" Cedric asked.

"Oh, an awful lady," Luna replied cheerfully. "Rita Skeeter. She publishes lies and asks the most awkward of questions. If I were you, I would be very worried about this interview."

"Comforting," Cedric mumbled.

Luna farewelled them at an empty classroom on the fifth floor and drifted away. Cedric stared at her incredulously before shaking his head and holding the door open for Hermione.

She entered and saw that Fleur and Krum were already there, sitting on opposite sides of the room as usual.

Rita Skeeter was speaking with a short man holding a camera, pointing around the room at spots where the lighting was the best. Dumbledore sat in the corner, humming to himself.

Hermione smiled shyly and waved at Fleur who beamed back at her. She started to walk toward her but suddenly Rita was blocking her path.

"Ah excellent, our remaining champions!" Rita said in an irritatingly high voice. "Come, come, we don't have all the time in the world. Boys, you'll be first."

She grabbed Hermione roughly by the shoulder and directed her toward a chair near the front. Cedric followed Rita toward three chairs situated near the window. Krum sat next to him and Rita across from them.

She whipped a green quill from her bag, sucked the end of it and placed it on a piece of parchment. The quill stayed perfectly on its point and vibrated slightly as she let go.

A chair was suddenly placed next to Hermione and Fleur sat down, nudging her in a friendly way.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Fleur asked, smiling playfully as if she already knew the answer. In the background, the short man was hurriedly setting up the camera, Rita snapping instructions at him.

"I've had better days," Hermione replied. "Of course it's my luck that we have an interview on the day I have my first hangover. I must look awful."

"You look wonderful, as always," Fleur replied.

"You are so full of it."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but Rita hushed them.

"Okay boys," Rita said with an air of excitement. "Nothing to worry about, just a fun little interview to let our readers get to know their champions. I'll ask you a few questions and then it'll be the ladies turn. The Quick Quote's Quill will take notes automatically, no need to look at it. Ready?"

Cedric and Krum both nodded and the camera began to whirl automatically.

Hermione looked down and was aware that her and Fleur's knees were only about an inch apart. There was no need for them to be sitting so close really, but she didn't mind. Hermione felt glad that she got to do her interview with Fleur; she had no experience with the media and would have been happy to keep it that way. She got the idea that Fleur was much more used to this kind of attention.

Hermione tore her gaze away and forced herself to focus on the interview.

Rita had already introduced Cedric and Krum and had begun to, for lack of a better word, interrogate Krum.

"So Viktor," Rita started, clasping her hands together, "our Quidditch champion and now Durmstrang's Triwizard champion. How are you feeling?"

"Good," Krum grunted. Rita waited for more but it seemed he was finished. The Quick Quote's Quill zoomed across the parchment as if Krum had said a monologue. Rita readjusted her glasses on her nose and glanced at her notes.

"Do you think your skills at Quidditch will come into play during the tournament? Do you anticipate a cross over?" Rita probed.

"Not sure," Krum replied.

Silence.

"What do your teammates think of your selection?"

"They're happy."

"Are they jealous?"  
"No."

"What about your family? Tell us about them?"

"That is private."

"Ah, but Mr Krum," Rita said, an air of annoyance punctuating her speech. "Our readers want to get to know the real _you_. Your family is a big part of that."

"I said no comment," Krum snapped abruptly. The atmosphere between them grew thick.

"Okay then, what about your Quidditch past? Tell us how you got your first big break?"

"No comment."

"Who is your favourite teammate?"

"No comment."

"Favourite Triwizard champion?"  
"No comment."

"Favourite _food?!_"

Krum smiled.

"No comment."

Rita clucked her tongue impatiently and shook her head. The Quick Quote's Quill continued to race across the page.

Hermione could barely stifle her laughter; even Fleur had cracked a smile.

"Well Mr Krum it seems you have had a fair amount of media training before," Rita said, smiling coldly at him.

"If I give no comment, then you cannot find a way to spin it," Krum replied simply.

Rita ignored him and turned to Cedric.

The Quick Quote's Quill jumped up and down, excitedly starting on a new piece of parchment.

"Now, Cedric," Rita said. "Our charmingly handsome American champion. Tell me about yourself?"

Cedric looked nervously at Krum, who was still glaring at Rita.

"Well," Cedric started, "I'm originally from Louisiana but my family moved to Massachusetts when I started at Ilvermorny to be closer to me. When I graduate I want to work for the Magical Congress in either the Auror division or maybe the Office for Magic Relations and Education… I haven't decided yet."

"That would be an excellent path for you!" Rita said, nodding as if she were wise to everything about Cedric's life and ambitions. "Of course, with your connections you could do whatever you wished, my dear! Your grandfather would make sure of it!"

"I don't want to associate with anyone my grandfather has connections with," Cedric said quietly.

Rita's eyes lit up as if she had spotted a gold mine.

"Why is that, Cedric?" she asked quickly. "Is your relationship with your grandfather unhappy? Do you disagree with his politics? Are you a Muggle sympathiser?"

"No, it's not unhappy, I-I just have different views than him," Cedric replied, stumbling over his words slightly.

"So you're telling me you disagree with the amendment he made to the Wizarding Constitution in 1921 that proclaimed a magical being and a non-magical being could not be wed?"

"I mean, I think it's a bit backwards-,"

"So you do not support it?"

"I-I don't-."

"What about," Rita said, flipping through her notes frantically, "the latest statement he made in _The Wizard's Voice Daily _where he claimed that Muggleborns are an example of, and I quote, "No-Maj's successfully stealing and applying magic?""

"It's, I mean, I don't know, it's a bold claim to make-," Cedric spluttered.

"So do you support it or not?"

"I, um, it's complicated, I think-,"

"Because this is what his argument of magical and non-magical segregation is based on," Rita said, leaning forward in her chair. "That the Muggles, or No-Maj, have found ways to steal our magic and will use it for their own gain? That the magical community we have been building for centuries will be torn down and desecrated by the No Maj's radical ideas? That they do not understand the fundamentals of magic and will end up destroying themselves if they continue to gain access."

Spit was flying from Rita's mouth in excitement as she spoke. The Quick Quote's Quill was writing so quickly that it was occasionally falling off the page and marking the desk.

Rita leaned forward, now so far out of her chair she was basically squatting.

"His campaign is wavering in support," Rita said in a dramatically slow voice. "If his own grandson, the champion of Ilvermorny, the face of the American people in this exclusive tournament, were to come out in opposition of his own grandfather, it would be all but the end of his movement. His long political career, over. So, Mr Diggory, do you agree or not with your grandfather's ideas?"

Cedric sat in stunned silence. He cleared his throat and glanced around the room as if silently pleading for help. The Quick Quotes Quill had paused on the parchment, quivering in anticipation.

Cedric hung his head.

"He's my grandfather," he murmured. "Of… of course I support him."

Rita nodded dramatically and leant back in her chair.

Hermione felt stunned. Not twenty minutes earlier, Cedric had pleaded that she believe he did not associate with such anti-Muggleborn views. Now, he was declaring to the wizarding world that he did.

A soft voice spoke from the corner.

"That will do, Rita," Dumbledore said, staring at her with his piercing blue eyes. Rita seemed slightly annoyed but nodded all the same; she had enough from Cedric for a solid piece about the male champions.

Cedric and Krum stood and walked to the opposite side of the room. Cedric did not meet Hermione's eye.

"Alright then ladies," Rita said, beckoning them over.

Rita lay a fresh foot of parchment next to the Quick Quote's Quill. She gazed curiously at Fleur as she sat down in front of her and, with a leering smile, added two more feet of parchment next to the Quill.

Hermione sat next to Fleur and felt her stomach erupt with nerves. Skeeter had just torn Cedric to pieces and Hermione dreaded the questions she was about to be asked.

Rita eyed Hermione and clicked her fingers at the camera man.

"Do we have any makeup for this one?" she asked and Hermione felt her face redden.

"Er, maybe in the bag," the man replied and he and Rita stood up to look for it.

"I told you you were a liar," Hermione whispered to Fleur.

"Ignore her," Fleur replied, placing her hand on Hermione's leg. "You saw what an evil woman she is, how she treated Cedric and Krum. She disgusts me."

"Will you answer her questions?" Hermione asked.

Fleur sighed.

"If I do not, she will make up the answers anyway. I was watching that Quill; half of what it writes was not actually said. I fear I already know the questions she will ask me and if I do not give an answer then she will write one for me."

Fleur sounded nervous and Hermione decided it appropriate to squeeze her hand in support. Fleur held on tightly and Hermione didn't try to let go. She felt her stomach settle slightly.

Rita came bustling back over with a bag of makeup, stopping and eyeing the girls holding hands.

"A forbidden romance, perhaps?" Rita asked crudely.

Hermione withdrew her hand quickly and Fleur scowled.

"You will print what you like anyway, regardless of the answer to _that _question," Fleur sneered.

"There's nothing going on," Hermione said quickly.

Rita arched an eyebrow but said nothing; patting Hermione's face with some powder.

"Well, it can't work miracles but it will do," Rita said and Hermione willed herself not to go red again.

The camera whirred and the Quick Quote's Quill started to write, regardless of the fact no one had spoken yet.

"So," Rita said, clasping her hands together once more and turning toward Hermione. "We will start with the underdog."

Hermione felt a surge of anger. The _underdog_?!

"Ms Granger, you do not have an exceptional background," Rita said, sounding bored. "No magical family, no sporting history, a Muggleborn."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply angrily, but Fleur spoke first.

"No exceptional background?" Fleur spat. "You are not serious? Have you heard what she has done in the past five years? Then again, that would require minimal research from you and that is the quality of a _good _journalist."

Rita raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Of course I have heard of her exploits," Rita replied. "They all centre on supporting Harry Potter, a friend who is much more exceptional than herself and would be sitting in her chair if he had decided to enter the Tournament! Would have made sold more papers as well, mind you…"

"Harry Potter may be the one to get himself into situations, yet Hermione is the one to get him _out _of them," Fleur replied.

"Everyone gets lucky once in awhile."

"Luck is for the unprepared," Fleur said, drawing herself up in her chair. "I sit with Hermione in Charms and have witnessed her magic first hand. In class we are are currently working on duplicating a loaf of bread, meanwhile Hermione is already able to duplicate living objects. She succeeded in cloning her cat last week. She is excellent."

"Being able to duplicate a cat does not make her a worthy champion-," Rita began.

"-and yet the Goblet still chose her," Fleur interjected angrily.

"Because Harry Potter didn't enter!"

"Harry Potter would have been killed long ago if it were not for Hermione saving him!"

The room went silent.

Hermione felt a rush of gratitude toward Fleur. She didn't realise Fleur knew so much about her past and the fact she was backing her up over it made her feel even happier.

Her happiness dissipated quickly however, as Rita turned slowly toward Fleur, looking like a lion about to catch its prey.

"Harry Potter would have been killed long ago?" Rita said slowly. "That is quite a dark thing to say, Ms Delacour."

"Out of context, maybe," Fleur said, her voice shaking slightly. "It would have been a tragedy, of course. I am merely pointing out Hermione's skill."

"Yes, maybe," Rita replied. "Though your family does have a dark history, does it not?"

The colour drained from Fleur's face. Rita smiled wickedly.

"It was not something I was going to bring up," Rita continued. "Yet you brought into my question my research skills as a journalist so I feel the need to prove them to you now. Alas, my pride demands it."

"It-it is not relevant to the Tournament," Fleur said quickly but Hermione knew it was too late.

"I must say I disagree, Ms Delacour," Rita replied. "I think it has all the relevance in the world. I'm sure all of our readers from Durmstrang will be interested to hear the viewpoint of the family history from someone who was involved. Plus, this is a piece getting to know our champions, it would be unreasonable to emit this."

"I was not a part of it," Fleur said, her voice clearly shaking now. "I was not there; you would know this if you had done your resea-,"

"Are you really choosing to goad me once again?" Rita interrupted. "If I were you, I would think very hard about whether that's the right thing to do."

Fleur fell silent.

Hermione was feeling extremely anxious as the Quick Quote's Quill whipped across the parchment. Ritas eyes were shining and Hermione could sense Fleur shrinking into her chair.

"So, Ms Delacour," Rita continued. "Tell me about Amandine."

Silence filled the room once again. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Krum lean forward in his chair.

"She is my sister," Fleur replied, "the oldest out of the three of us."

"And for our readers who don't know the history, would you care to fill us in?" Rita asked.

"I- she went to Durmstrang," Fleur said nervously. "My family lived in the north of Europe at the time so it made sense for her to go there. She- she got expelled and we moved back to France. When I was eleven, I was accepted into the Beauxba-,"

"Woah, woah," Rita interrupted, "that is quite a brief and undetailed account of what happened."

"Like I said, it is not important to-"

"Is it true," Rita continued, as if Fleur had not spoken, "that Amandine was involved in Dark Magic? That she gathered together a group of Grindelwald sympathisers and planned to break him out of Nurmengard prison?"

"That is not exactly-,"

"And is it true," Rita pressed, "that because of their actions, a student was murdered resulting in your sister's arrest?"

"There is more to it than-,"

"And because your sister was underage, she was released and the Delacour's scarpered back to France, the family name ruined?"

"We wanted to go home, it was best-,"

"Would you have returned though?" Rita asked. "If Amandine had not become a Dark Witch, would you still have come back to hide in France?"

All eyes in the room were on Fleur. Silent tears were falling down her pale face.

"I do not know," Fleur finally said.

Rita nodded.

"What do you think of your sister's actions?" she asked.

"I abhor them," Fleur replied. "I am against everything she stands for."

"So she still holds these views?" Rita said quickly. "Wasn't part of the agreement of her release that she would no longer dabble in the Dark Arts and, if she did, it would result in automatic exile to Azkaban?"

"I-I do not know," Fleur stuttered.

"You say you disagree with her viewpoints but you won't admit whether she is still a danger to society?" Rita probed.

"I- I do not know if she is-,"

"You are willing to risk another magical life on "I do not know"? If you had any semblance of an idea that she were involved in Dark Magic again, don't you think it important to immediately report it to the Ministry?"

"Yes, yes of course it is."

"So, have you reported anything to the Ministry?"

"No, I- I do not see her often, I do not know what she does with her time now."

"So no part of you thinks she is involved once again in Dark Magic? In a time where You Know Who has risen, where Dark Magic is in abundance, you don't think she is capable of going back to her old ways?"

Fleur opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, desperately searching for an answer.

Hermione could sense Fleur's distress and knew she had to do something. She really knew nothing about this situation, didn't know if Fleur knew anything more than she was letting on, but it was clear Rita was about to tear her to shreds. Hermione had to do something.

"She's just told you she doesn't see her sister often," Hermione interjected. "If there is no proof of wrongdoing, then she can't report anything. Any witch or wizard who commits a serious crime while underage is tracked by the Ministry throughout the rest of their life. It sounds like the Ministry would have more of an idea of what Amandine is doing than Fleur would."

All eyes in the room were now on Hermione. The Quill was writing so quickly it was puncturing the parchment.

Rita turned slowly back toward her.

"You two are very quick to defend each other," Rita said, pointing at the both of them. "There's really no romance going on here?"

At that moment, Dumbledore rose.

"I think we are finished for the day, Rita," Dumbledore said calmly. "Our champions have been interrogated quite enough."

"But Headmaster," Rita gasped, "we're just getting started!"

"Your Quick Quote's Quill has written pages of notes, I'm sure you will find enough for you story," Dumbledore replied. Rita stiffened but nodded, slowly packing up her equipment. She and the cameraman began to exit the room.

"The article will be out within the week," she said over her shoulder as she walked out the door, snapping it shut.

Once again, the room fell into silence.

Cedric was still staring at the ground. Krum was looking at Fleur, who was looking out the window.

"Well, that went about as well as expected," Dumbledore sighed. "I will ensure that you are not subjected to any further interviews. Alas, this one was a requirement as agreed with _The Daily Prophet_. I will say that in future, you are unable for questioning. You are free to go."

Dumbledore strode out of the door, nodding to each of them as he went.

The four champions sat in silence for a few moments, none of them standing to leave.

Suddenly, Krum began to laugh. Cedric, Fleur and Hermione all stared at him as his laughter grew harder and harder.

Tears streamed down his face as he gasped for air and Fleur turned to Hermione with an incredulous look.

"I went first," Krum said, struggling to speak through his laughter, "I went first and said no comment to _everything_ and all of you _still _answered every question! I showed you what to do and you _still_-,"

He collapsed into laughter once again and Hermione couldn't help but start to laugh too. Soon, all four champions were cackling uncontrollably, their grief and anger and embarrassment from their interviews being shown through hysterical laughter.

After a few moments, Hermione regained control and wiped her eyes.

The others slowly settled down too and Hermione saw Cedric shake his head.

"I don't know why the Goblet chose me," he said. "I'm such a coward. The minute she said I would ruin my grandfather's career, even though I disagree with him _so _much… I just couldn't do it."

"He's your family, Cedric," Hermione said and he looked at her for the first time since they entered the room. "It's understandable."

"Sometimes we do stupid things to protect our family," Fleur chimed in, running her hand through her hair in frustration.  
"Yeah, well, this was absolutely idiotic," he replied. "She's going to print in that newspaper that I hate Muggles and Muggleborns and the whole world is going to view me the way they view my grandfather. After I've spent my whole life trying to distance myself from his policies…"

"You'll have to find a way to show them otherwise, then," Hermione said and Cedric nodded.

Krum rose to his feet.

"Delacour," he said and Fleur looked at him. "Do you think your sister still poses a threat to society?"

"I really do not know," Fleur replied, shaking her head. "Amandine and I do not get along. The last time I spoke to her was two years ago. It ended in us duelling. She nearly killed me but my father intervened before she could. I have overheard my parents speaking their concerns about her, but really they do not know what she is doing either."

Krum nodded, satisfied with this answer.

Fleur stood and walked over to Hermione. She hugged her tightly, taking Hermione by surprise.

"Thank you for having my back," Fleur whispered into her ear. Hermione hugged her back, stroking her fingers slowly along her spine.

"Thanks for having mine," Hermione replied. "It was nice of you to say that stuff about me."

"I said it because it is true," Fleur said. "I have heard all about Harry's adventures and you are always there, saving the day. He gets the credit because he is Harry Potter but we all know he would never have succeeded without you."

Hermione hugged Fleur tighter and buried her head into her shoulder. Her hair fell softly over Hermione's face and she felt the stress from the interview melt away from her.

The conversation between Fleur and Rita had been jarring but it cleared one thing up for Hermione; Fleur wasn't a dark witch. She was protective of her family, sure, but not to an extent where she blindly let them do anything they pleased.

On top of that, Fleur had _stood up_ for her. Hermione would have drowned under Rita's questioning, accepting the ideas that she was unexceptional in an attempt to keep the interrogation as light as possible. Fleur had stood up for her at her own risk, which resulted in the interview taking an ugly turn in Fleur's direction.

_Harry and Ron are the only other people who would've done that for me_, Hermione thought.

"Should we give you two the room?" Krum asked.

Hermione realised they had been hugging for a long time and reluctantly let go, smiling coyly at Krum as she did.

"You know what, I've changed my mind," Cedric said, twirling his wand between his fingers. "I think we all crushed that interview."

All four champions burst out in laughter once again.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The article was released three days later and was as bad as expected.

Hogwarts was alight with gossip as within the hour everyone had read or atleast heard about what the article held.

Rita had portrayed Krum as an arrogant snob, Cedric as a prejudiced conservative, Fleur as a narcissistic Grindelwald-sympathiser, and Hermione as a dim-witted Harry Potter fan.

"How do they expect anyone to take an interest in the Tournament when all of the champions sound like assholes?" Hermione asked, throwing down _The Daily Prophet _article and shaking her head.

Hermione, Fleur, Cedric and Krum were all sitting in the library together. The interview debacle had created a kind of strange connection between them all; they had made it through the trauma together and found themselves now hanging out quite often. It had brought about the realisation that they were all in this together and no one else knew what they were experiencing but each other.

As much as Hermione tried to explain it to Harry and Ron, they didn't seem to understand.

The fact that the four champions were friends was subject to great discussion within the castle as students theorised over why. Many seemed to think there were ulterior motives afoot, or that they planned to help each other in the tasks.

Hermione had no plan to help the other three and she assumed they felt the same way; they simply enjoyed each other's company.

"Well, everyone loves to hate a villain," Cedric said, glancing at the article.

"ONE villain," Fleur said. "You can't have everyone competing be the villain! Then no one will watch."

"Hmmm, an international Quidditch player, the grandson of a political tyrant, a part Veela and Harry Potter's best friend all competing against each other in a Tournament known for its bloody and dramatic history and you think no one will watch?" Cedric asked.

They all laughed.

Madam Pince whipped her head around the corner, glaring at the amount of noise they were making. They hurriedly pretended to study until she slunk away.

"The First Task is soon," Krum whispered. "I am sure there will be a lot more coverage after that. The media will try to turn us against each other, spread rumours. Trust me; they have been doing it to me for years."

"We're friends," Cedric said. "The Tournament is something we are all part of and all want to win, no doubt about that. We don't need to discuss that with each other, it will just make things messy. You guys are great, but I'm still gonna do everything I can to beat you. Do ya'll agree?"

Hermione, Fleur and Krum nodded.

"It's settled then," Cedric said, leaning back and putting his feet on the table. "Buddies in the castle, enemies in the Tournament."

Cedric smiled but quickly yelped as Madam Pince hit his feet off the table with a particularly thick version of _Hogwarts: A History_.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Decided to post this chapter a bit earlier this week! It's the longest one yet. Let me know what you think :)**

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You aren't trying hard enough!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Trust me, I'm trying _very _hard and my ego is _very _hurt," Harry replied, picking himself up from the floor for the umpteenth time that day. He dusted himself off and looked around for his wand; spotting it halfway across the room and continuing to grumble as he walked to get it.

Hermione, Harry and Ron were in a spare classroom together practicing spells. It was two days until the first task and Hermione was starting to panic.

She hated the fact that she still had no idea what the task held and had taken to learning every branch of Charms she could think of.

Professor Flitwick had given her an extensive list of useful spells after she had stood outside his office for two hours, begging for his help. He had initially refused, saying he wasn't allowed to help the champions in any way but conceded when she had said she would sleep outside of his office until he changed his mind.

Hermione had been practicing _Alarte Ascendare _on Harry; a spell Professor Lockhart had used in their second year when he accidentally propelled a snake that Draco had conjured into the air.

This particular spell had not been on the list, but Hermione had awoken in the middle of the night to a brainwave. She frantically wrote the incantation in a notebook and tried desperately to remember the correct wand movement. After a trying a few motions with no success she angrily jabbed her wand, which had apparently been the right thing to do.

A spell had shot out, hitting a sleeping Lavender Brown and throwing the screaming girl into the air. Lavender still hadn't forgiven her.

Hermione knew she would need sentient objects to practice on and that lead her to ask the boys for help. Initially, they made weak claims that they had homework but, after she said she would finish it for them, they reluctantly agreed to help.

"You've got it down, Hermione," Harry grumbled, rubbing his back.

"We don't know that!" Hermione snapped. "Whatever I'm about to face in the first task could put up much more of a fight than you are, you need to try harder!"

"Isn't it your turn?" Harry said angrily, turning to Ron who was sitting on a cushion.

"I think my tailbones broken, mate," Ron replied, wincing as he moved slightly.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione pleaded. "Let's just try one more time, try putting up _Protego_ or disarming me or something before I hit you."

"I've been _trying _to do that, you're too fast," Harry replied but Hermione signalled Ron to count them down to duel again.

"Three, two, o-," Ron began but Harry had moved on "two".

"_Expelliarmus_!" Harry bellowed but Hermione was too quick. She moved deftly to the side, flicking her wand to divert Harry's spell. It flew past Ron who dived behind a desk to avoid it.

_Alarte Ascendare_, she thought and completed the correct wand motion. Harry went flying up into the air, hitting the ceiling and landing directly next to the cushions that were set up to break his fall.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Harry bellowed, not bothering to get to his feet. "No more! It's not even a fair fight, you're using non-verbal spells!"

"Of course I am," Hermione replied, rushing forward to help him up. "Whatever I'm about to face might understand languages so why would I give away my move as I make it?"

"Yes, but right now you could go easy on me."

"But that's not how I'll do it in the _task_."

Hermione helped Harry to his feet.

"I'm done; I can't be your guinea pig anymore. You're ready, Hermione," he said sulkily, walking gingerly over to the desk where Ron was still hiding.

"Isn't Fleur on her way anyway?" Ron said, looking eagerly at the door. Hermione telling him that Fleur didn't like men had not seemed to have dampened the crush he had on her.

"Yeah," Hermione replied, tucking her hair behind her ears.

She and Fleur had planned to practice their Charms homework together. The class had now progressed to duplicating snails and Fleur was having trouble with the spell. Duplicating living objects was much harder and most of the students had yet to get the hang of it.

Hermione had immediately offered to help; she could now clone large animals and felt she had all but mastered the spell.

"She'll be here soon," Hermione continued. "So in the meantime, let's do one more practice roun-,"

"NO!" Harry and Ron said in unison.

At that moment, the wooden door swung open and Fleur walked into the classroom. She beamed at Hermione, oblivious to Ron whose mouth had dropped open.

"Am I too early?" Fleur asked, looking at Ron and Harry with confusion on her face.

"No, no," Harry replied quickly, grabbing Ron by the sleeve. "We were just leaving."

"Huh?" Ron said. Harry dragged him out of the room, nodding at Hermione's appreciative smile.

"See you at dinner," Harry called out. Ron continued to stare at Fleur until the door snapped shut.

"Why were they limping?" Fleur asked, reaching into her bag for her Charms textbook.

"Oh, we've been practicing some spells. You know, in case I need it for… the first task," Hermione replied. The air between them grew slightly awkward.

This had become a problem between the champions. They were spending more and more time in each other's company and it was becoming increasingly harder to avoid the taboo topic of the Tournament.

In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hermione had made the mistake of asking Krum how his preparation for the first task was going. Krum had stiffened up causing ink to spill over his essay.

Another time, Cedric had asked Hermione in Potions if she had given much thought to how dangerous the task may be. Hermione was focused on cutting up her Gurdyroots and had not replied immediately, causing Cedric to babble for ten minutes about how he wasn't trying to weasel any tactics out of her.

Fleur placed her bag back down and eyed the plump cushions on the ground; Harry and Ron had managed to miss them every time meaning they still maintained their original shape.

"Do you want to keep practicing?" Fleur asked carefully, as if she were already anticipating a rejection.

"What?"

"We can practice the spell; I promise I will not steal it for myself."

Hermione hesitated.

Practicing with a new person would be incredibly helpful and it meant she would be able to gage her skills off of another champion. But Fleur _was _her competition and she didn't want to give any of her moves away…

"It's probably not a good idea," Hermione finally said. "I don't want to hurt you."

Fleur smiled and stepped toward Hermione.

"Oh, you are assuming you will be able to land the spell on me?" Fleur said, arching her eyebrow.

"Well, yeah of course I would."

"Prove it then, Ms Granger."

Fleur playfully pushed Hermione's shoulder and walked to where the cushions lay. She kicked them to one side and turned back around.

"I will not need those," Fleur said lightly, taking out her wand and setting her feet.

Hermione knew it was a goad but she couldn't resist. Fleur had a smirk on her face and Hermione knew she had to wipe it off.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Hermione said, sighing in an exaggerated fashion and taking up a spot on the other side of the room.

They stared at each other wands raised. A crow squawked sharply in the distance.

Hermione tightened her grip on her wand, willing herself to pay attention to the goal and not on how beautiful the colours of Fleur's eyes were.

"Three, two, one, _Petrificus Totalus_!" Fleur cried.

The spell very nearly hit Hermione and she silently cursed herself. She had managed to duck to the side but was now very much on the back foot.

Fleur threw another spell, smiling devilishly as it sailed millimetres next to Hermione's ear.

Hermione thought _Protego! _and an invisible shield sprung up between her and Fleur, rebounding Fleur's next spell back toward her. Fleur leapt out of the way just in time and one of the cushions exploded as the spell collided with it.

Panting, Fleur looked at Hermione with an impressed expression.

"Non-verbal spells, is that how you want to play?" Fleur said sassily, flourishing her wand. A collection of red spells shot out toward Hermione and she parried them away once again.

Fleur had chosen an aggressive strategy, firing spell after spell with no real direction or conviction. Hermione recognised the wand motions before Fleur had even completed them_._

_Stupefy, Expelliarmus, Jelly-Legs Hex, probably the Bat-Bogey hex judging by her wrist position_, Hermione thought, dodging side to side and parrying when needed.

_Her form really isn't great, she's going to have trouble during the duelling competition_.

"Are you going to fight back at some point?" Fleur goaded, sending another couple of colourful spells Hermione's way, which she diverted once again. They went hurtling into the blackboard causing it to crash to the ground.

"I'm just waiting," Hermione shouted, deflecting another spell which went sailing into a desk.

"For what?" Fleur asked, thrusting her wand violently forward to send another spell. She had over-extended and her weight shifted slightly to her left foot.

"That!" Hermione yelled and thought _Alarte Ascendare_!

The spell shot towards Fleur, hitting her hard on her right shoulder. Fleur was thrown high into the air, her wand flying to the other side of the room.

She threw her hands out to stop herself from smashing into the ceiling, but her head whipped forward on contact and made a dull _thud_.

Hermione gasped. She realised that Fleur was about to come crashing down and flicked her wand quickly, causing her to stop inches above the hard stone floor.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Hermione yelped, running toward where Fleur was still levitating.

Fleur crossed her arms and didn't speak.

A small trickle of blood oozed out of a cut on her temple.

"You hit your head pretty hard," Hermione continued. "You're bleeding, we should go to Madam Pomfrey, check to see if you have a concussion or-,"

"Do not be ridiculous, I am fine," Fleur muttered, still looking angry.

Hermione looked closely at the cut; it was shallow and she could probably heal it herself. She let out a sigh of relief.

Fleur still had her arms crossed and had made no move toward lowering herself to the ground.

"Are you _sulking_?" Hermione asked, not being able to stop a grin crawling across her face.

"No!" Fleur replied.

"You _are_! I mean, I did warn you that you would lose if we duelled…"

"You got lucky."

""Luck is for the unprepared"," Hermione retorted and Fleur couldn't help but smile at the call back.

Hermione held out her hand and Fleur took it, slowly swinging her feet on to the ground.

"Your wand is over the-," Hermione began but was cut off as suddenly Fleur sprang forward, pinning her to the ground. She held her wrists tightly; her knees either side of Hermione's legs.

Hermione squirmed to try and wriggle free but Fleur just held her wrists tighter.

"The duel is not over," Fleur stated, "you let your guard down too quickly. See, I win."

Hermione squirmed even harder, laughing as she did so.

"Just give up!" Fleur said, struggling to hold Hermione down.

"Never!" Hermione replied and, with a big push, managed to wrap her legs around Fleur's hips and flip them over. Now she was on top, pinning Fleur's wrists and delighting in the fact she had won once again.

They were both panting and the realisation dawned on Hermione that their hips were pressed hard against each other; their faces only inches apart. They had been struggling so intensely that she hadn't realised how close they had become.

Fleur stopped struggling with her arms but Hermione felt her hips move forward, her groin pushing harder into Hermione's. A jolt she'd never felt before ran through Hermione's body.

They froze in that position for a moment, holding eye contact, time seeming to stand still.

Hermione knew that Fleur was waiting to see what she would do. She was in control of the situation, she held the dominant position and yet she stayed frozen. A million thoughts raced through her mind at once, colliding into and contradicting each other as to what her next move should be.

_I can't do it._

Hermione dropped her gaze and got to her feet. She held out her hand and helped Fleur up, indicating she should sit down in one of the chairs that had survived their dual.

"Here, I'll heal the cut on your face," Hermione said, still not making eye contact and looking for her wand. It had ended up on the other side of the room after Fleur had tackled her.

She retrieved it, walking as slowly as possible as embarrassment washed over her in waves.

She picked up her wand and turned. Fleur was already sitting in the chair playing with her golden bracelets, lost in thought.

Hermione made her way back over, willing the tense atmosphere to dissipate.

She crouched down to assess the cut, shaking slightly as she tucked Fleur's hair behind her ear to see it more closely. It was about an inch long and very shallow. _It won't take long to heal_, Hermione thought. Fleur finally broke the silence.

"I am sorry, I did not mean-," she began but Hermione interjected.

"There's not need to apologise, duels do tend to get intense."

They both knew that was not what Fleur was apologising for but silence fell between them once again.

Hermione felt confused.

What she had just felt, that jolt through her body, what did that mean? It was the most wonderful feeling but she felt guilty for feeling it and didn't know why.

_Are we getting too close?_

She liked spending time with Fleur. They worked together well in Charms and would often go for walks on the grounds in their spare time; talking about the latest theory of magic they had learnt or discussing the news from that mornings copy of _The Daily Prophet_. Light topics. That was, until Madam Maxime had caught wind of their friendship

Hermione knew Maxime didn't like her. She would scowl at Hermione in the corridors and would often call Fleur away whenever they were together, asking her to do a chore any number of her students could have completed.

As the first task had drawn nearer, they found themselves being separated more often. Classes, homework, teachers and extra-curricular activities continued to get in the way and Hermione was growing increasingly frustrated with these outside forces.

She found she would often absentmindedly look for Fleur, feeling disappointed if she didn't see her at mealtimes.

_That's because we're friends_.

Every time she saw a student wearing the Beauxbaton's robes in the halls she felt a flurry of excitement, followed by crashing frustration when she realised it wasn't Fleur.

_We're just friends_.

She looked forward to seeing her other friends of course, but not in the same way. She had never wanted to hug Ron every time she saw him, never lost sleep wandering over whether Harry was thinking about her…

_We're destined to compete against each other in the Tournament. It can't be anything more than this_.

"How did you know?" Fleur said, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.

"Know what?" Hermione replied, struggling to push her chaotic feelings to the back of her mind.

"How did you know when to attack? When we were duelling before you kept defending yourself until you saw me do something and then you did _one _offensive spell and hit me. How did you know?"

Hermione smiled, relived that they were talking about the dual and not anything that would require more emotional investment.

"There's an art to duelling," she said, waving her wand to siphon the blood from Fleur's cut off her face. "A lot of people think it's just throwing attack after attack but that's pointless if you don't have a strategy. A good wizard will block you every time. A lot of people tend to grow impatient and will end up making an error which is what you did."

"Which was?"

"You threw one spell harder than you needed to, out of frustration or clumsiness I don't know-,"

"I am _never _clumsy!"

"-and you accidentally shifted your weight onto the wrong foot," Hermione continued, now doing slow intricate wand movements to heal the cut. Skin covered the wound, layering over itself delicately until it was all but faded. "Once your weight is on your less dominant foot, your reactions to dodge are a touch slower, leaving the perfect opening for me to hit your other side."

"How did you know my weaker side is my left?" Fleur asked.

"Observation," Hermione replied, lowering her wand. The cut was completely gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. "I watched your style while you threw spell after spell and then I waited until you slipped up. Your face is good as new, by the way."

"Thank you," Fleur said, touching where the cut had been. "I did not know I was so easy to read. I will keep that in mind when it comes time for the duelling competition."

"Which I'll beat you at as well," goaded Hermione as she picked up her bag. Fleur shook her head and reached for her own bag.

They studied the duplication charm for the remaining thirty minutes, deliberately ignoring the topic of what had nearly happened between them. The conversation between them was awkward and Hermione made sure they sat on opposite sides of the desk.

By the time the bell rang, Fleur had managed to not only duplicate the snail, but a mouse as well. Hermione was genuinely pleased for her but made no attempt at conversation as she quickly packed up her belongings.

She realised that Fleur had made no attempt to leave and was twirling her wand between her fingers, apparently deep in thought once again.

Hermione didn't wait to ask why; she was headed to Defence Against the Dark Arts and wanted to go as fast as possible. She had no desire to discuss with Fleur, or anyone for that matter, what was going on in her own head.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and was nearly at the door when Fleur called out, "Wait."

Hermione felt her stomach drop as she turned around. Fleur looked as if she was battling an internal war.

"What's up?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her tone light.

"Tonight," Fleur said, pausing briefly as if she already regretted what she was about to say.

"Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight. Meet the… the Speropax outside the Beauxbaton's carriage at midnight," Fleur said, rushing the sentence.

"Why?" Hermione said slowly. It was breaking the rules to be out of bed so late and she never did it unless totally necessary.

"It has to do with the Tournament… Cedric and Krum already know about them, I'm sure of it…"

"Know about wha-?"

"Will you just do it?" Fleur snapped. "It is not a trap if that is what you are thinking. It is something… to help you. The Speropax will be waiting there for you but stay hidden in the shadows. When it leaves with Madam Maxime, follow them at a distance."

"I can't be out that late without a good reason," Hermione said, still not understanding what Fleur was trying to say.

"Look, if you want a clue for the first task then I suggest you be there," Fleur snapped, sounding very annoyed now. "If not, then forget about what I said."

"But-,"

"Do not worry, I will not be there so you will not have to spend another minute with me."

Fleur glared at her with an icy look and Hermione felt her heart sink. They had reached the topic.

"Fleur, it's not like that. I just- I don't understand what's going on."

"With yourself or with this plan?"  
"Both."

"It is fine, Hermione," Fleur answered throwing her Charms book into her bag aggressively. She snapped the clasp and hoisted it onto her shoulders. "You told me how you felt on the night of the party. Just… just think about taking my advice. About meeting the Speropax tonight, I mean."

Fleur walked quickly past Hermione before she could respond, not looking back as she strode down the corridor.

Hermione stared after her, more confused than she thought possible.

The second bell rang and she snapped out of her thoughts. After hastily repairing the furniture they had broken, she hurried towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Regardless of the fact the first task was just days away, she knew Snape would not be afraid to give her detention if she were late.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione tapped her wand against her knees, watching as golden sparks flew from the end. It was 11:30pm and the common room was starting to empty.

Ron was scribbling away at their Potions homework and Harry was snoozing in the squashy armchair next to her. Ginny lay on the floor, shooting bubbles out of her wand for Crookshanks to chase.

Unfinished homework and rubbish from lazy Gryffindor's lay strewn around the tables and she knew the house elves would be here soon to start clearing it up. She had to make a decision.

Ginny glanced up at Hermione.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked.

Hermione had told them about Fleur's suggestion and they had all offered differing advice.

Harry had said it would be a great idea to get a clue as to what she would be up against in the first task and offered the invisibility cloak.

Ginny disagreed; she thought it foolish to wander out in the middle of the night where the other schools were camped. She had made the point that Fleur hadn't offered her help until _after_ she was annoyed with Hermione.

Ron had no opinion either way. He still claimed Fleur was "too pretty" to be evil but was also cautious as to whether there may be an ulterior motive. His advice was the least helpful.

Hermione had casually told them that her and Fleur had had a falling out of sorts but had blamed it on the duel, not the awkward sexual tension that had lingered between them afterward.

Harry and Ron accepted this explanation without question. Ginny, however, had looked at her with curiosity after she finished the story but made no comment.

As the minutes ticked by, Hermione became more and more aware that the first task was creeping closer and she still had no idea what to expect.

Fleur had said she thought that Cedric and Krum already knew what the task was going to be. Did that mean Hermione was the only one who was going in unprepared?

She tapped her wand harder against her knee and a large jet of gold shot from it, crashing into the mirror on the opposite wall.

Harry was startled awake, jumping out of his chair, wand drawn. He spun around in circles to look for the attacker. Ginny yanked him back into his seat.

"Just _go_, Hermione," Harry said grumpily, once he realised what had happened. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"I don't know," Hermione said anxiously, glancing at the portrait hole. "Oh, I don't know."

"It's not cheating," Ron said, throwing down his quill and rolling up his parchment. "Everyone else already knows what to expect and you're _still_ too scared to break the rules."

"But what if I get caught?" Hermione replied.

"Then throw Fleur under the bus," Ron suggested. "She's the enemy, doesn't matter if she gets disqualified from the Tournament."

Hermione tapped her foot anxiously and looked into the crackling flames that sparked in the fireplace.

_If I get caught, I'll say it was my idea_, she thought. _If I don't get caught, then I'll know what to expect for the task and I can be properly prepared._

She got to her feet.

"I'm going to go," she exclaimed and Harry and Ron cheered. Ginny shook her head and resumed shooting the bubbles at Crookshanks.

"I'll get my Cloak," Harry said but Hermione shook her head.

"No, I'll do a Disillusionment Charm. It will make it easier for me to run, if it comes to that..."

"You know how to do a Disillusionment Charm!?" Ron exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. "That's seventh year magic, Hermione!"

She ignored him as she tapped herself on the head with her wand. A chill ran through her as the charm took effect, feeling like water was cascading down her body as she slowly camouflaged into her surroundings.

It wasn't perfect by any means.

She moved her hand quickly and saw it flicker free from its camouflage, just for a moment. She would have to move slowly otherwise she ran the risk of being seen, but it was good enough.

She had no idea what was going to happen with the Speropax and didn't want to wear the Cloak in case she needed to flee quickly. Atleast with the Disillusionment Charm, she didn't have to focus on making sure she was covered.

Harry, Ron and Ginny admired her spell work.

"Not bad," Harry said encouragingly.

Hermione didn't like her magic being anything less than perfect but it was already 11:45pm; she needed to go.

"I'll see you later," Hermione said, adrenaline running through her veins. "If I'm not back by morning, tell Dumbledore everything."

She turned and made her way out of the portrait hole; the Fat Lady grumbling as she woke from her sleep.

Hermione made her way slowly down the deserted corridor. It was eerie walking around the castle late at night and she couldn't help but jump at the unexpected sounds it made.

She decided to go through a shortcut that lead to the third floor, halving her travel time. She felt along the wall for the false stone that indicated the entrance and pushed hard.

A large portion of the wall faded away, leaving enough space for her to crouch down and walk the steep downward slope toward the tapestry at the end. The sound of pebbles echoed as she kicked up the stone, skittering down the slope next to her as she walked.

Eventually, she saw the large portrait signalling the exit. She pushed it open, grunting slightly with the effort.

The tapestry swung open and she stumbled out, turned, and let out a gasp.

Snape was at the end of the corridor, walking in the direction of his office.

She clapped her hands over her mouth but it was too late; Snape had heard the noise. He spun around, wand raised.

"_Lumos_," he murmured and the light sparked, shining directly onto where Hermione was standing.

She was frozen to the spot, having no idea whether the Disillusionment Charm was strong enough to let light pass through her camouflaged form. If it was good enough, he wouldn't be able to see her. If it wasn't, she was headed for about three months' worth of detention.

Snape walked forward slowly, squinting at where she stood. The only sound was that of his footsteps and the gentle breathing coming from the portraits around them. He was a couple of feet away from her now and she could feel herself shaking.

The portraits on the wall had begun to stir, awakened by Snape's wand light. They began to curse and exclaim loudly at Snape to turn it off, one particularly angry monk showing a rude hand gesture in his direction.

"Silence!" Snape hissed, whirring toward the offending portraits and sending a collection of spells in their direction. On contact, the spells let out a loud bang and the silence was instantaneous.

Hermione seized Snape's moment of distraction and slowly moved to his left, holding her breath and silently hoping her Disillusionment Charm didn't wane.

_Why didn't I just take Harry's damn cloak_!

Snape turned back toward the spot she had just been and, to her enormous relief, continued to walk forward, oblivious to her movement and staring down the now empty corridor.

She slowly continued to move until she was behind him, making her way down the first staircase she came across. Creeping down the stairs, still barely daring to breathe, she prayed that Snape had decided nothing suspicious was afoot.

She reached the second floor and paused, leaning on her knees and willing her heartbeat to slow down. The castle creaked around her and the Bloody Baron floated by aimlessly, muttering to himself.

_This had better be worth the effort_, she thought, straightening up and continuing down the staircase.

She made it to the oak front doors free from any further interruptions and glanced around. No one else was in sight. The doors creaked as she slipped outside.

It was a cloudless night and there was not a breath of wind. She could see the lights in Hagrid's cabin were still on and he appeared to be entertaining a guest.

Moonlight danced over the ground, illuminating the Durmstrang ship as it bobbed silently in the lake. The Ilvermony truck was shrouded in darkness. No movement occurred from either of them.

Hermione made sure she was still sufficiently camouflaged and made her way toward the direction of the Beauxbaton's carriage.

The shining Speropax slowly came into view as she drew close; its head resting lightly on its paws. She couldn't help but admire its beauty as it lay so quietly in the moonlight. Its hair flowed smoothly from its body onto the grass and its ears remained perked up, as if it were still listening as it slept.

Hermione nervously approached it, not entirely sure how to wake it without appearing as a predator. She didn't know how Speropax magic worked and she didn't want to find out.

Suddenly, the Speropax leapt to its feet, turning to where Hermione stood. Its hackles were raised though it did not growl. It stared at where Hermione was now frozen. She was unsure whether it registered she was there and felt a sense of foreboding.

"Erm, hello," Hermione whispered, waving her hand quickly. She tightened her grip on her wand with her other hand, ready to defend herself if necessary.

The Disillusionment Charm flickered as she waved, showing fragments of her hand to the Speropax.

It paused for a moment, surveying her, and then slowly let its hackles fall. The look of suspicion on its face was replaced with one of such intense sadness that it made Hermione's heart ache.

She felt guilty for causing such pain on this creatures face, but why was it so sad? She had never interacted with it before, didn't know how it even knew who she was.

_What have I done to you?_ she mused.

A loud crash echoed around the grounds and Hermione turned quickly, the Disillusionment Charm flickering wildly at her sudden movement.

The door to Hagrid's hutt lay open, light spilling onto the ground in front of it. Hagrid and Madam Maxime came stumbling out, giggling together.

Hagrid stood on a pumpkin near the door, his foot crushing the vegetable and splattering parts of it across the walls. He howled with laughter, kicking his foot and sending flecks of pumpkin spraying everywhere. They were clearly quite drunk.

"Come now Hagrid," Maxime said, stumbling down the stairs. She hoisted her dress as she stepped over the orange mush. "We must get going or we will miss them! They are being caged tonight, I believe."

"Right you are, m'lady," Hagrid said. He walked to a nearby barrel and splashed water onto his face, shaking his head violently and sending water spraying everywhere. If he was trying to impress Maxime, he was not doing a good job.

She held out her arm and he hooked his around it, walking briskly in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione audibly groaned and the Speropax turned back toward her, head cocked to the side.

"We have to go in there, don't we?" Hermione asked, pointing at the forest. Though it was a clear night and a full moon, the forest itself seemed as dark as ever.

"I try to avoid going in there. Last time I did, a centaur herd threatened to kill me," she continued. The Speropax made no move of acknowledgment. Hermione frowned. "Why am I telling a dog this, you probably don't even know what I'm saying."

The Speropax snarled at her and Hermione jumped back as a shrill whistle filled the air.

The Speropax's ears pricked once again and it turned toward the sound. Maxime was standing at the edge of the forest, beckoning. Hagrid stood to the side, half shrouded in darkness, appearing to be patting an invisible animal.

_Thestrals_, Hermione thought. It was an unkind reminder of the vast array of creatures that inhibited the forest and her apprehension toward going in grew.

The Speropax glanced momentarily over its shoulder at Hermione as if to say _are you coming?_

before stretching out and bounding toward where Maxime stood.

Hermione watched as the dog ran further away, its sleek flanks moving at such a speed that it appeared as a silvery blur. It reached Maxime and she signalled for it to fall in step beside her, Hagrid staggering along behind.

If Hagrid were not with them, she would have turned to go back to the castle right then and there. She didn't like the prospect of being alone with Maxime and the Speropax; neither of which seemed to like her one bit.

But curiosity burned at her as she wondered what kind of clue the forest were to offer her in regards to the first task. It was less than 48 hours away until she was expected to excel in a challenge she knew nothing about in front of a crowd of hundreds. Her anxiety was at an all-time high.

_If something goes wrong, atleast I'll have Hagrid_. _I'll stay out of their path, see what I need and then go straight back to the castle_.

She ran forward, the dewy grass crunching under her feet as she drew nearer to the forest. The Disillusionment Charm flickered wildly as she moved but it didn't matter right now; there was no one else on the grounds to see her.

She reached the break in the trees where Hagrid, Maxime and the Speropax had walked through and slowed down, catching her breath.

She treaded carefully along the worn path, squinting in the darkness to make out their shape.

Her wand remained unlit. She wanted to use as little magic as possible as some particularly foul creatures in the forest were attracted to magic in all forms. She did not fancy the idea of having to fight off one of Aragog's children.

She spotted the group ahead of her and slowed her walk.

Brambles snagged at her robes and twice she nearly walked into a low hanging branch. A group of doxies flew overhead, buzzing loudly as they searched for food. An owl hooted in the distance. Still, they walked.

After fifteen minutes, Hermione noticed that the group had slowed up ahead.

The trees were denser here, the track less worn. There were fresh boot prints leading ahead and Hermione could hear roaring and crashing nearby.

"Now, we got to be quiet," Hagrid whispered, bringing a finger to his lips. "Charlie knows we're coming, well, he knows _I'm _coming…"

He pushed a thick branch to the side, revealing a muddy path that snaked out of sight. He gestured for Maxime to go through and the Speropax followed her. He looked back, straight through Hermione, before disappearing after them.

Hermione waited a couple of moments then crept forward, ducking under the branch and trying to keep her footing.

The track was slippery and many footprints walking in both directions cluttered it. Next to the track trees had been crushed down, lying broken on their sides.

Hermione lost traction on the muddy ground and slipped, sliding helplessly down the track. She grabbed at the ground, trying to slow her descent but only managed to cut and graze her hands. The Disillusionment Charm flickered wildly as she grappled to find traction, sliding to halt mere feet away from Hagrid's large boot.

She stayed perfectly still for a moment, sure that someone must've heard or seen her crashing through the brush.

Hagrid seemed to have taken no notice.

"Ain't they beautiful?" he whispered, his voice filled with awe. Hermione looked up slowly as an ear-piercing roar reverberated around them. Her mouth dropped open in horror.

Four large dragons stood in a large grassy clearing in front of them. About a hundred different handlers were working to restrain them, shouting and firing spells at the restless beasts.

The red dragon was making the most noise and it seemed to have woken the other three through its distress. The green dragon was the only one still laying down but had cracked open one of its sleep filled eyes, glaring at the red dragon. The black dragon and the blue dragon were both sitting on their haunches, greedily eyeing a large pile of deer carcases to their right.

Thick chains were attached to metal collars around all of the dragon's necks, leading to iron pegs dug deep into the ground. One of the handlers ran over to the red dragon's peg and shot a spell at it, driving it deeper into the ground just as the creature reared in an attempt to flap its wings.

The dragons were all different colours and clearly from different breeds. Some were short snouted, some long, some had spikes on their tails, others had large scales.

The large red dragon let out another roar. It scratched at the ground and looked around as if searching for something.

Hermione felt faint.

_Dragons!? They want us to defeat dragons!?_

The Speropax was backing up slowly, glancing up at Maxime and back toward the dragons repetitively.

Hagrid made to walk closer but one of the handler's yelled out, "Stay back!" The words had barely left his mouth when the red dragon screeched again and shot out a stream of flames. They licked at the ground, stopping well short of where Hagrid stood. The handler's seemed to be having a fair amount of trouble restraining it and Hermione could hear one barking orders at the others to stun it.

"Having a bit of trouble, Charlie?" Hagrid shouted over the din.

Hermione realised that the man giving orders was indeed Charlie Weasley; short, stocky, his arms bulging with exertion as he heaved at the chain attached to the red dragon.

"Just a bit," Charlie yelled back. "I think it's best if you leave. Sorry Hagrid, I know you wanted to see them up close but they've become a bit grumpy now they've realised we're putting them back in their cages."

"No problem, just wanted to show Olympe," Hagrid replied, but the end of his sentence was drowned out.

The red dragon was screeching again in fury. It tugged at the chain around its neck viciously and Hermione saw the peg in the ground loosen slightly. She wanted to shout out a warning but it was too late. The dragon unfolded its leathery wings and beat them ferociously, whipping up a vicious wind that made the handlers cover their faces.

The peg loosened even more and the dragon had traction now, rising above the ground slightly and letting out another jet of flame as it screeched.

The flames came a lot closer to where Hermione was still laying and she scrambled backwards to keep her clothes from being singed.

The handlers were now firing stunning spells at it to no real effect; it only enraged the dragon more.

"Hagrid, take them and go!" Charlie shouted, shielding his eyes from the wind and firing another spell at the underbelly of the dragon.

It roared as the spell hit its soft flesh and beat its wings harder. The peg was wrenched from the ground and the dragon was free.

The other dragons were all alert now, snarling and snapping their jaws.

The handlers shot spells and tried to drive the peg back into the ground, fighting the red dragon as it continued to flap its wings.

Hagrid let out a shout and grabbed Maxime, ducking their heads as they ran back up the track they had come.

Hermione scrambled to her feet and ran toward the bush, not knowing where she was going but aware she needed to get away and quickly. She saw the Speropax run into the dense bush as well, darting between the trees and leaping over fallen branches.

She ran as hard as she could for a few minutes, hearing the occasional screech from one of the dragons or the crash of a tree falling to its wrath. The forest was dark and she was having trouble seeing where she was going, stumbling often and hoping the centaurs were nowhere close by.

Eventually, Hermione heard the loud _thump_ of a body hitting the ground. The handlers must have regained control.

She slowed down, leaning on her knees, panting heavily. Panic clouded her thoughts.

_There were a hundred handlers there who couldn't control that thing and they expect me to beat it!?_

She slowly caught her breath and brushed the hair from her eyes.

_How could Dumbledore have agreed to this?_

She looked back to the direction of the enclosure to try to get her bearings. She had no idea which way she had ran from the scene and there were no markings around her offering a hint. A slight wind creaked through the trees. She became aware that she was very alone.

"_Lumos_," she murmured. There was no point crashing around in the dark anymore; at this point she would be happy to be found by a teacher.

She walked straight ahead, looking left to right as if her head were on a pendulum. The silence pressed on her and she strained to listen for the slightest disruption. Broken foliage lay ahead and she had to learn on a branch to step over it. The branch gave way and let out a loud _crack _as it tumbled to the ground.

Hermione froze.

Something rustled ahead of her.

She lifted her wand higher, the light stretching onto a clump of bushes. She took a step closer, straining her eyes for any movement. The light from her wand couldn't permeate the denseness of the leaves and she made the split second decision to run.

She turned on her heel, sprinting hard to a small clearing she could see ahead. Her feet slapped the ground loudly and the light from her wand flashed as she pumped her arms.

She heard a growling and willed herself to run faster, lungs already burning from the current exertion. She thought she could hear a voice yelling from behind her but was too focused on reaching the clearing to respond.

To her relief, she could now see the tip of the Astronomy tower above the canopy of trees ahead of her. If she continued in this direction, she'd eventually be back on the Hogwarts grounds.

She approached the clearing and a large solid shape collided with her side. She went flying and crashed into a bush, the thorns tangling in her robes and scratching her exposed arms. Her wand flew from her hand and landed ten feet away.

She looked up and yellow eyes met her own. A wolf was standing where they had collided, snarling and snapping its bared teeth.

Its coat was dark grey and matted as if it were used to the harsh conditions of the wild. Scars criss-crossed along its back and a chunk was missing from its snout. It was the height of a small bear and looked like it had not eaten a good meal in days.

Hermione stood slowly, not breaking eye contact with the wolf. It growled louder.

"Okay, okay," she said out loud, trying to take note of where her wand lay. "I'm leaving, okay? I didn't mean to trespass here."

More growling.

Hermione edged away slowly.

"I'm just going to get my wand and then I'll leave and never come back."

The wolf walked forward slowly as she continued to back away. The Disillusionment Charm was still on her but it didn't seem to matter; the wolf could smell her fear.

Hermione paused, glanced at the wolf, and broke out in a sprint toward her wand. The Charm flickered wildly and the wolf snapped its jaws as it ran after her, closing the distance quickly. She was still five feet from her wand when the wolf jumped.

She leapt forward at the same time, landing face down on the ground as her hand closed around a familiar handle but she knew it was too late; the beast would be on top of her within milliseconds. She threw her arms over her head, waiting for impact.

A flash of silver streaked past the corner of her eye and a heavy thud sounded as something collided with the wolf. It yelped and Hermione heard it crash into a nearby tree.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" a familiar voice barked at her.

Hermione got to her feet, slowly looking toward the voice.

Fleur stood in the clearing, her robes ripped in several places, leaves strewn through her hair. A large bite mark was etched into her thigh, dripping blood at a steady, slow pace. She had a look of disbelief on her face as she gripped her wand tightly.

"What are you doing out here?" Fleur shouted and the wolf leapt back to its feet, growling menacingly.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks again for your kind reviews! They always make my day :)**

o-o-o-o-o-o

Blood was trickling down the length of Fleur's leg from the bite, pooling in her sneakers. She paid no attention to it as the wolf barked and charged at her, sensing she was the weaker of its two opponents.

Fleur shot a stunning spell which bounced off the battle-hardened beast. Though it was thin, its skin was tough and years of living in the forest appeared to have built a strong resistance to magic.

Fleur threw herself to the side to dodge the leaping wolf, yelping in pain as she landed on her injured leg.

The wolf skidded to a stop and turned quickly, darting back toward her.

Hermione shot multiple stunning spells at the beast but they bounced off him, neither slowing its gait nor distracting it.

Fleur scrambled backwards but her leg was hindering her movement. Leaves scattered across the forest floor as she clambered for purchase on the slippery ground. She sent a variety of spells at the wolf but they all bounced off of him uselessly. It was closing in on her quickly.

Hermione looked around frantically for an object she could use. A thick branch had fallen free from the tree that the wolf had crashed into earlier. She had an idea.

She turned and pointed her wand at Fleur thinking, _Levicorpus!_

Fleur was hoisted by her uninjured foot high into the air, dangling upside down and out of reach as the wolf skidded to a stop below her. She yelled out in surprise at her sudden position, looking at Hermione in alarm.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Hermione shouted, flourishing her wand at the branch. It rose heavily from the ground and floated toward where Fleur was dangling.

The wolf had now backed up to the edge of the clearing. It tensed and then ran at full speed, preparing to take a flying leap.

Fleur yelled as the wolf jumped. Hermione slashed her wand and the branch flew heavily toward the beast, colliding with it in mid-air.

The wolf collapsed to the ground, knocked out cold.

Hermione ran forward to where Fleur was dangling, her hands covering her eyes.

"It's okay," Hermione panted as adrenaline shook her body. "It's unconscious. Come on, we won't have long until it wakes up. I'll get you down using the counter-spell but it's quite inelegant-"

"Just hurry up," Fleur said impatiently, uncovering her eyes and holding out her arms to brace herself for the fall back to earth.

Hermione pointed her wand at Fleur and thought _Liberacorpus_. Fleur crashed ungracefully to the ground, yelling out in pain again as her injured leg took the weight.

Hermione rushed forward and helped her up, draping Fleur's arm over her shoulder and holding her waist tightly. The Disillusionment Charm was still in effect and Hermione thought that Fleur must look to be in a very strange position right now.

"What are you doing out here?" Fleur asked through gritted teeth. They walked slowly, Fleur unable to put any weight on her bad leg. The wolf lay still behind them.

"I followed the Speropax, like you said," Hermione replied. "It lead me to the dragons. _Dragons! _I was there for a moment but then the situation got out of control and I ran from the place blindly and ended up here. What are _you _doing here?"

"I… came to see the dragons too."

"How did you know about them in the first place?"

Fleur readjusted her arm around Hermione's shoulder.  
"Madam Maxime and Hagrid are close, they spend much time together. He accidentally let slip that he was excited about some creatures being brought into the forest. She asked to see them and eventually he admitted that they were related to the first task."

They paused for a moment as Fleur moped at the blood around her leg, smearing it more than cleaning it. The mass of trees had grown less dense around them; they were near the edge of the forest.

"So Maxime manipulated Hagrid into showing her the dragons," Hermione stated, a bite of accusation in her voice.

"She asked to see them and he showed her."

"After she pestered him about it for days."

"We do not know that."

"I have a hunch I'm right."

Fleur stopped and removed her arm from Hermione's shoulder. The castle was in view now and the lights in the Beauxbaton's carriage were on.

"If she had not found out, you would have no idea about them either and we would both be going into the task blind!" Fleur snapped.

"We weren't supposed to know about them! That's the point of the Tournament, to adapt and adjust under pressure!" Hermione exclaimed. A slight wind had whipped up as the witches glared at each other.

"So then why did you come?" Fleur hissed. "I told you it had to do with the task and gave you the choice and you chose to come."

"If the rest of you didn't already know about them, I wouldn't have!"

"I guess that makes you nobler than the rest of us," Fleur said sarcastically, turning on her heel. She attempted to walk but stumbled and fell to the ground, clutching her leg.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked forward to help her back up. Fleur gripped her arm tightly for support.

"There's no need to get dramatic about it," Hermione said, pulling Fleur's arm back over her shoulder. "Look, I appreciate you showing them to me. You didn't have to do that. Now, stop being so stubborn and let _me _help _you_."

Fleur nodded and they continued their slow walk. Fleur had refused once again to be taken to Pomfrey, insisting they had all the medicine they needed inside the Beauxbaton's carriage. Hermione thought it best not to question her on the subject.

They reached the outskirts of the forest without further incident. Hermione's shoulder ached but she kept a firm grip around Fleur's waist. Fleur had grown steadily paler as they walked.

"So, why did you tell me about the dragons?" Hermione asked as they walked past Hagrid's hutt. His lights were out and she could hear faint snoring from inside.

"Well… I thought it was only fair," Fleur replied. "Madam Maxime said that she had overheard Karkaroff and Fontaine discussing them over breakfast one morning so it is safe to assume Cedric and Krum know. I did not want you to be… disadvantaged. Also, after we duelled today and I saw the spell you were putting so much effort into… well, now you know that it is not going to be helpful."

Hermione laughed as she envisaged herself trying to send a 10 ton dragon into the air. She doubted the spell would have enough power to lift one of its toes let alone the whole creature.

Her laughter faded quickly however as she realised she now had to find a strategy to beat a _10 ton dragon_.

They reached the doors of the carriage and Fleur gingerly stepped toward it, her hand on the handle.

"How did you find me tonight?" Hermione asked quickly. "I was under the Disillusionment Charm the whole time. I know the wolf could probably smell me, but you-?"

"I saw your wand light," Fleur said, opening the door. Light spilled onto the steps and Hermione could see the plush blue carpet inside. "Also, when you ran from the wolf, the Disillusionment Charm flickered and I could see it was you. I yelled out to tell you which direction to go but I do not think you heard me."

"And you tackled the wolf?" Hermione asked, remembering the flash of silver she had seen before the wolf went crashing into the trees.

Fleur looked at her quickly.

"You saw that?"

"Well, I saw a flash of silver and I assumed it was your hair or something."

Fleur visibly relaxed and nodded.

"I… dealt with the wolf yes. It managed to take a bit out of me first, though." She swayed slightly on the step and Hermione felt bad for holding her up when she was obviously in so much pain.

"I can help you in-," Hermione started but Fleur shook her head.

"I think it best I go in alone. Madam Maxime will want an explanation and it is best that you are not here when I give it."

Hermione nodded. She didn't like the idea of having to explain that Fleur was injured because of her, the Hogwarts schools champion.

"I'm sorry," Hermione mumbled. "If I'd been a bit more careful with where I was running this wouldn't have happened."

She gestured at Fleur's leg. It was still oozing with blood and had started to take on a greenish tinge. Fleur waved her hand.

"It is not your fault, I told you to go into the forest in the first place. What is done is done. Now, this is really quite painful so I think I will-" Fleur pointed inside.

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Hermione said quickly.

Fleur made to move inside but paused. The moonlight shone off of her silver hair as she bent down, kissing Hermione on both cheeks.

A shiver ran through Hermione's spine and she visibly tensed as Fleur's lips pressed to her skin. They were soft and lingered slightly longer than necessary near her face.

Hermione had the urge to do it back, to see if Fleur's cheeks were as soft as her lips as she kissed them, to slightly brush noses as she switched sides.

She realised that she had subconsciously closed her eyes and snapped them open quickly, only to see Fleur had disappeared inside the carriage.

The Disillusionment Charm spluttered and faded, leaving Hermione fully visible and staring at the closed door.

Hermione wanted to shove it back open, to appeal to Fleur that she could look after her, could apply the right ointments and potions to Fleur's wound, could sit next to her bed and make sure she had enough sleep, could hold her if she asked.

She sighed and tapped her head with her wand to reset the Disillusionment Charm, turning back toward the castle.

The creaking Durmstrang ship sounded as if it were laughing at her as she walked.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The castle was buzzing with excitement as the day of the first task arrived.

Hermione had woken up every hour during the night, running through her strategy in her head. She tried to think of every flaw in her plan, ways she could counteract any unexpected problems. What if the dragon didn't fall for her trick and she had to adapt?

She was confident in her magical ability to pull it off but nevertheless, she was nervous.

Eventually she couldn't listen to Parvati's snoring any longer and rose to get dressed. Her hands shook as she buttoned up her school blouse, her fingers fumbling the buttons.

Electing not to wait for Ron and Harry to wake up she set off for breakfast, scratching Crookshanks on the ear as she went.

It was only 6am and Hermione was relieved to see the Great Hall was empty when she arrived. People had been incessantly gawking at her over the past 24 hours and she was growing tired of it.

She loaded her plate with bacon and eggs and stared at it. Pushing it to the side, she reached for her bag and pulled out her Charms book, once again going over her plan.

The Great Hall began to slowly fill with students. The task was set to start at midday and afternoon classes were to be suspended so all students could attend.

Hermione wasn't required to go to class at all that day and she resented the fact that all she had to keep her mind busy was to watch the ticking clock.

Students murmured excitedly when they saw her and some came up to wish her luck. Many were donning Hogwarts or Gryffindor clothing; red and gold scarves, silver hats with the Hogwarts crest, and banners with her smiling face on them. She looked uneasily at the banners; the girl on them looked a lot more confident than she felt.

Ernie had roared with glee when he had seen her giving her a thump on the back, Seamus had offered her a potion for nerves and Luna had given her some dead flowers.

Hermione was relieved when Harry, Ron and Ginny finally arrived.

They were all donned in Gryffindor gear and Harry and Ron were carrying a large banner. Hermione was horrified when they unfurled it to show a picture of her face looking mischievous with the words "HERE COMES THE DANGER, IT'S HERMIONE GRANGER" splashed in red paint across the top. They point blank refused to throw it away and had threatened her with a Body-Bind hex if she tried to destroy it.

All three of them looked tired but pleased and offered words of encouragement that she didn't hear. Harry tried to get her to eat and she took a bite of her bacon, only to feel like she would vomit it back up if she had any more.

"You'll be fine, Hermione" Ron said, his mouth stuffed with cereal. "We've been practicing for the past day, you've got it down."

Hermione nodded but didn't reply.

She had snuck back through the castle uninterrupted after her adventure in the forest two nights ago, her mind racing. She had devised a plan for the dragons in her head on her walk and had stayed up the rest of the night practicing a particularly tricky branch of magic. She had asked Harry, Ron and Ginny to help her practice a different spell the following day.

She needed to learn how to perform her chosen spells when under high levels of stress and they had all gleefully skipped their classes to spend the entire day putting her under as much pressure as possible.

At first, she had failed miserably. Harry had been screaming into her ear, Ron was sending objects flying around the room and Ginny had been shooting spells at her to dodge. Hermione had been so distracted that Ginny had successfully hit her with a Jelly-Legs charm that had her wobbling around the room for thirty minutes.

However, by the evening she had been nearly perfect and nothing they could do had managed to break her focus. Ron had even thrown a particularly hard Quaffle at her head and, though she was extremely annoyed, her charms stayed strong.

"You just have to block out the noise," Harry chimed in, grabbing his bag as the bell rang. "Imagine the dirty, great dragon as a Pygmy Puff and you'll be away."

They bade her farewell and good luck as she would not see them again until after the task was over.

She stared down at her plate feeling like worms were wriggling in her stomach. She looked at her watch and sighed when she saw it was only 8am.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Hermione decided to take a walk around the grounds to waste some time. Students applauded as she walked out of the Great Hall and she smiled weakly at them.

She pushed open the doors of the Entrance Hall and brilliant sunshine spilled onto her.

It was another cloudless day and the sun shone without much warmth, the occasional gust of wind ruffling her hair. A large white tent had been erected near the Quidditch stadium and older wizards were bustling around it,

The Durmstrang students who had not left for class yet were on top deck of their ship; some cleaning, others finishing off their breakfast. Hermione could see Krum pacing, muttering to himself and waving his wand sporadically.

The back of the Ilvermorny truck had been flung open and most of their students appeared to still be there. Cedric was standing, telling a particularly graphic story which included him baring his teeth and pretending to breathe fire. Hermione's stomach dropped as she saw Mikhail amongst the watching group, the only one looking unimpressed. The other Ilvermorny students roared with laughter as Cedric feigned a look of horror and pretended to faint.

_Fleur was right_, Hermione thought. _He does know about the dragons._

She glanced towards the silent Beauxbaton's carriage. It looked empty as the students must have diligently left for class already. Well, _nearly _all the students.

Hermione knew Fleur would be inside, impatiently waiting for the start of the first task too.

Harry, Ron and Ginny had advised her not to visit Fleur before the task was over. Aside from it not being a good look for two champions to be meeting the day before they were set to compete, they had warned her that she would probably not be greeted warmly by Maxime.

Hermione knew they were right. Maxime had not hidden her anger at Hermione in the slightest. At breakfast the previous morning, she had glared daggers at Hermione from the teacher's table until Hermione had hastily suggested they go and practice her strategy early.

It hadn't stopped Hermione from wanting to check in on Fleur, though.

She made the mistake of letting her mind wander to Fleur while they were practicing and paid for it. Ginny had picked up on her distraction and hit her with _Alarte Ascendare_. She then understood why Harry and Ron had so hated helping her practice that spell.

After that, she waited until they took breaks to wonder about Fleur, gazing out the window at the Beauxbaton's carriage. The bite had been nasty and she didn't think there would be enough time for Fleur to heal properly before she had to face her dragon.

She continued to stare at the carriage, an internal battle happening over what she should do.

Ilvermorny students had slowly started to walk past her toward the castle, waving silent hellos as they passed. Cedric had re-entered the truck, disappointed that his crowd had to leave.

The grounds were much quieter now. Apart from the wizards setting up the tent in the distance, there was no one around.

_Screw it_, Hermione thought and strode quickly toward the Beauxbaton's carriage. She did a quick once-over of the carriage; she didn't fancy running into the Speropax again.

Still stealing quick glances behind her, she knocked three times and waited with baited breath. There was no sound coming from inside and she was about to turn back toward the castle when the door was flung open.

Fleur stood before her, a look of surprise on her face. A toothbrush was hanging out of her mouth and her hair was wet, quick drops of water dripping down her neck. A white fluffy robe hung off her body, exposing one of her shoulders. She didn't appear to be wearing anything underneath it and she hastily tightened the belt holding it up. Large black bags under her eyes dragged down her delicate skin.

"Wha' ah 'ou 'oing 'ere," Fleur asked, her mouth full of toothpaste.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you would be up by now!" Hermione said, feeling a blush creeping up her neck. "I just wanted to check in… its okay, I'll go."

Hermione turned to leave but Fleur grabbed her arm and shook her head. She beckoned her inside and pointed her toward a room with its door ajar.

The inside of the carriage was huge. They were standing in a circular room that had multiple doors leading off it. Powder blue carpet lined the floors with silk curtains to match and a large mirror was placed opposite the door with the Beauxbaton's slogan etched in gold around the edges.

Small silver instruments placed on tables around the room were puffing a variety of coloured smoke and paintings of famous ex-pupils were hung carefully on the walls. Hermione recognised one of Nicholas Flamel and he smiled at her warmly. The rest did not look pleased to see her.

Hermione made her way into the room Fleur had pointed out for her. She could hear Fleur in an adjacent room with the tap running as she finished brushing her teeth.

Upon entry, it became very clear that this was Fleur's bedroom.

It was small, but cosy. A four poster bed sat in the middle with silver draping's hanging loosely around it. The silk sheets looked like they had been hastily disturbed and a large fur blanket lay strewn on the end. A wardrobe that took up half the room stood opposite the bed and was packed to the brim with expensive looking robes. A white owl sitting on top of the wardrobe hooted softly.

The room was painted a pale gold and the ceiling replicated the real sky above them.

Pictures of Fleur's family sat on a cluttered desk. Hermione picked one up and sat down on the bed, looking closely at those in the photo.

Fleur's mother and father waved up at her, beaming wildly. Next to them was a young girl, clutching her mother's hand tightly and peeking up shyly. Fleur stood next to the young girl with her hand on her shoulder, a curious smile on her face. They were standing in front of a large white house, marble pillars in the view behind them.

"That was taken three years ago."

Fleur limped into the room, brushing her hair as she did. She sat gingerly next to Hermione and pointed at the young girl.

"That is Gabrielle, my youngest sister. Amandine used to be in this photo but she walked out of it after we had our duel."

"It's a beautiful photo," Hermione replied. She wanted to ask for further detail about the duel but decided it was not the right time; she didn't want to upset her. Hermione placed the picture back on the desk and turned back to Fleur. "And your room… it's great. Do you think you have enough robes?"

Fleur laughed.

"A lady can never have too many robes," she retorted.

"Do you all have such big wardrobes?"

"Ah, no. Everyone else has to share rooms. I was given this once I was named the champion."

"I bet that made everyone else feel really valued."

"Indeed."

Fleur tried to disguise her grimace of pain as she shifted on the bed but Hermione wasn't fooled.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"I have been better," Fleur said, smiling coyly. She pulled up one side of her robe and Hermione gasped.

The bite was no longer green but the marks where the teeth had punctured the skin were still clearly visible in a shade of dark red. The skin was swollen and a large purple bruise spread across a large portion of her thigh.

"That wolf must have had some kind of poison running through its veins," Fleur continued. "The bite began to turn greener by the minute after you left. Madam Maxime had to stop the spread quickly before it travelled too far through my bloodstream."

"Oh, that's awful. Will you be okay for the first task?" Hermione asked, unable to tear her gaze from the wound.

"Oh, I am fine to compete," Fleur said lightly. "Like you said, the point of the Tournament is to adapt and adjust. I will do that."

"But… it's dragons! You need to be able to get out of the way quickly and you can't even walk…"

"I will be fine," Fleur repeated. "I am just glad you are okay."

Fleur reached over Hermione and she stiffened, expecting to feel a touch. But Fleur's hand continued past her and picked up a yellow tub of ointment that lay on her desk.

"This is the finest healing cream we have," Fleur said, unscrewing the cap. It smelt of peppermint and had a smooth consistency. "Unfortunately, it is not the least painful."

Fleur lightly dabbed some on her wound and hissed. Smoke appeared from where the cream had touched the open skin and it began to bubble. Fleur bit her lip and stared at the ceiling, her fingers hovering over her leg.

"Is it easier if I do it?" Hermione asked quickly. "You know, so you don't know when to expect the pain?"

Fleur paused and then nodded, handing her the container. She gripped the edge of the bed and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Do it all at once," Fleur said with a strained voice.

Hermione took a large glob of the ointment and smeared it across the wound quickly. It smoked and bubbled furiously and Fleur clenched her teeth and groaned.

_I'm sure Madam Pomfrey has better medicine than this. It would probably be fully healed if she had just let me take her to the Hospital Wing_, Hermione thought.

The bubbling began to die down and the wound began to look clearer immediately. The bite marks turned a hot pink in contrast to the red it had just been and the bruising became a darker shade of purple as the ointment settled.

"Fuck, that really hurt," Fleur said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Madam Maxime did it for me the other night after you left and I had to stuff a pillow in my mouth to stop myself from screaming."

"What did Maxime say?" Hermione asked. She reached for the bandages on Fleur's desk and helped Fleur to her feet. Without asking, Hermione crouched down and began to delicately wrap the bandage around Fleur's thigh.

Fleur stared at her transfixed for a moment before clearing her throat.

"Ahh, she was not happy. She asked me how it happened and I told her that I had run into a wolf when trying to escape from the dragons."

"Did you tell her I was there?"

"I did not, but she seemed to already know."

"What!? How did she know?" Hermione exclaimed, looking up.

"She said she saw you sliding down the slope behind them at the dragon enclosure. Very graceful by the way, you should become a spy," Fleur teased.

Hermione groaned. She had been so focused on whether Hagrid had seen her when she fell that she hadn't taken any notice of Maxime.

"But she wouldn't have known that you told me about them?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Ah, yes she did because then she saw you helping me back to the carriage. Needless to say, she was not very pleased with me. She was not as gentle as you when applying the cream to my wound."

Hermione finished winding the bandage around Fleur's leg and tested its tightness. She had tried to make it as supportive as possible but she knew she was no Healer. Maxime would probably re-dress it before the task anyway.

Hermione leant back on her feet and looked back up at Fleur.

"I didn't mean to get you in trouble-," Hermione started but Fleur interrupted.

"You need to stop thinking this is your fault. I made the decision to tell you where to find the dragons. If I had not have told you, you would not have gone."

"But-,"

"We are not going to talk about this anymore," Fleur said, holding out her hands. Hermione took them and stood up. Fleur made to let go but Hermione held on tighter.

"It was really nice… for you to tell me," Hermione said, her heart thumping in her chest. They were only a couple of inches apart and Hermione was determined not to be the one to break eye contact this time.

For the first time since she had known her, Fleur began to blush.

"I… it is no problem," Fleur stammered.

"After the way I acted earlier that day… when there was that moment…"

"You do not need to apologise. You have told me how you feel-,"

"Have I, though?" Hermione said, surprised not only at the words coming out of her mouth but the fact she had actually said them. Fleur blinked.

"At the party," Fleur said, her voice breaking slightly, "you told me that you were trying to work things out. That you did not "swing that way", in your own words."

"Yeah, but I also said I had been thinking about it," Hermione corrected her. "And you said yourself that in the Wizarding world, people don't label or care about sexuality."

"What are you trying to tell me, Hermione?" Fleur said bluntly. The space between them felt electric. Hermione wanted to both pull her closer and simultaneously run away.

"I just… I was really worried about you over the past couple of days. And… I think about you. A lot."

Fleur waited for Hermione to continue but her speech felt stuck in her throat. Fleur tilted her head and her eyebrow rose briefly.

"I think you are the most talented witch of your age," Fleur said, breaking the silence. "I have never been so taken with someone in such a short amount of time. You do not realise how wonderful you are."

"Oh I don't know about tha-,"

"But," Fleur continued, "you have to figure that out for yourself. I can see that you are carrying shame about who you are and it stops you from realising what you could have. No one can teach you how to accept yourself. There is no spell that can help. It is something that comes from self-reflection."

Fleur let go of Hermione's hands and the electricity between them disappeared instantly. Hermione felt like ice had slid into her stomach.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione stammered but Fleur shook her head.

"Shame is a powerful emotion," Fleur replied, limping toward the door. "If I ask you to imagine yourself holding hands with a girl in public, how do you feel? If you see two women kissing, do you feel the need to look away? If someone were to ask if you had a boyfriend, would you feel comfortable in correcting them to say you had a girlfriend?"

"Well, I-I don't know," Hermione stammered. "I've never had a girlf-… I've never dated a woman so I don't know if I would be uncomfortable with it."

"You can't even say the word girlfriend."

"What?"

"When you are referring to yourself, you always stutter when it comes to talking about women in a romantic way," Fleur said gently. "If I was your girlfriend, I would want to show you off to the world. I would want everyone to know. I would brag to my friends about you. Do you feel the same?"

Hermione opened to reply but an answer wouldn't come. Fleur smiled sadly.

"I grew up in a different world than you," she continued. "I did not feel shame when I knew I loved women. I felt happiness because it meant I knew who I was. But I have experienced much shame in my life. I know all the indicators and they are all over your face."

"What so… so you're just tossing me to the side? Because I'm not totally comfortable with a sexuality I'm only just realising might be there," Hermione said, anger causing her voice to rise slightly.

"Of course I am not," Fleur replied, looking at her incredulously. "I am just saying that until you are ready, I will not push you to be or do things that you are not comfortable with."

"What if I'm never ready? What if I never get over this feeling?" Hermione's words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I'm terrified that I'll never know how to let myself be happy with a woman."

Hermione glared at the floor, willing the tears in her eyes to disappear. Fleur limped back over to her and took her hand. This time, there was no sexual tension between them. It was a gesture of comfort, of solidarity.

"You are a smart woman," Fleur said, tucking a strand of hair behind Hermione's ear. "I know you will work at it hard until you achieve it. That is just who you are."

Hermione felt tears start to roll down her cheeks. Fleur reached forward and tenderly brushed them away.

"I will be here," Fleur said quietly. "Every step of the way, I will be here. You will look back on this one day and you will not be able to believe how far you have come."

Fleur pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair gently as Hermione began to sob. Deep, racking breathes scraped at her lungs and she willed herself to stop but it wouldn't. Fleur only held on tighter.

Fleur had put it so accurately and she finally knew what it was, what stopped her from talking to the pretty girl in the library, what stopped her from being able to imagine herself standing next to another woman at the altar.

She remembered every time a relative had made a gay joke, every time someone had expressed disgust at two women kissing, the time when she was a child and overheard her own father expressing his disagreement with gay people pushing for same-sex marriage

Over the years, all these moments had curled and morphed into a monster of shame that sat inside of her, not allowing her to feel what she wanted to feel. It suffocated her at every turn and she had avoided looking it in the eye. Until now.

After a few minutes, Hermione made herself take some deep breathes. Slowly, the sobbing subsided. The rejection and embarrassment however, still burned in her throat. She had decided what she had to do.

"I don't want you to wait for me," Hermione said, looking up. Fleur was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that… if you like me, I don't want you to put your life on hold until I'm ready. I don't know how long that will take me or if it will ever happen and it's not fair for me to ask you to wait."

Fleur frowned and opened her mouth to answer when the door suddenly swung open.

Madam Maxime stood in the doorway, hands on hips, looking livid. A group of Beauxbatons students stood behind her large form, peeking around her at the scene in front of them.

Fleur quickly let go of Hermione and limped toward Maxime, her hands raised as if she were trying to ward off a bull.

Hermione wiped her eyes with her sleeve and stared at the floor. She felt like they had been caught red handed and a hot feeling circled her stomach, slowly oozing into every inch of her.

_Shame._

"You are not serious!?" Maxime bellowed, jabbing her finger at Hermione.

"Madam Maxime, I can explain! She just came to-," Fleur began but Maxime interrupted her.

"There is always an excuse with you as to _why _you are with this girl! She is the competition, Fleur, she is the _enemy_ and yet you continue to disobey my orders to avoid her!

"No, I-,"

"It is almost like you are not taking this Tournament seriously! You should be spending this time practicing your new strategy that you had to adapt because you got yourself hurt defending _her_. The task is in less than three hours, Fleur!"

"I _have_ been practicing! All night! I have it perfected," Fleur exclaimed defensively.

"So what is she doing here all cosied up to you then? Are you helping her again? Maybe giving her your old strategy?" Maxime hissed, venom dripping from every word. To Fleur's credit, she stood tall.

"You know I would never do that," Fleur replied quietly, trying to keep her voice low so the students behind Maxime couldn't hear her. "I am as serious about this Tournament as I was the day I told you I wanted to enter. We are just friends."

_Just friends._

Maxime ignored her. She held the door open and pointed at Hermione again.

"Out! I will be speaking to Albus about your constant need to be around my champion and the trouble it has caused her. Do not come to our carriage again."

The Beauxbatons students stared at her as Hermione scuttled toward the exit. She kept her eyes glued to the floor as the door of the carriage slammed shut behind her.

Fleur's now raised voice carried across the grounds as Hermione ran back toward the castle.

o-o-o-o-o-o

11:50am.

Hermione watched as swarms of students walked past the tent. They were all chatting excitedly to each other, waving banners representing their school and sending sparks into the air. She saw Dean Thomas walk by wearing a cape with a roaring lion embellished on it.

Hermione had been in this seated position for the past two hours, barely moving a muscle. On the outside she appeared calm, but inside her mind was raging.

She had ran back to the castle after Maxime's outburst only to be meet with raucous students who were walking in between classes. Their cheers had turned to murmurs when they saw the tear tracks down her cheeks and the rumour mill began to spin.

She immediately turned around and ran to the tent instead, determined to stay out of the public eye until after the task was over.

A handful of older wizards were squabbling over last minute details when she had arrived and they told her to leave. She had generated a quick lie and said she needed to get "in the zone" to prepare for the task and they had begrudgingly let her enter.

The tent was very basic. Wooden chairs were strewn throughout the inside and the walls would flap open on occasion with the wind. The crests of the four schools were printed on each wall and a small table with snacks was shoved into the corner.

Hermione had grabbed one of the chairs and dragged it as far from the door as possible. She barely thought about the task as she replayed the scenes that happened inside the carriage over and over in her head.

At around 11:30am, Cedric had walked in. He had tried to engage her in conversation which she ignored so he reverted instead to bouncing on the balls of his feet and punching the air in front of him. It was rather annoying.

Krum had entered not long after, eyebrows furrowed and without speaking a word to any of them. He had picked up a chair and taken it to the opposite corner to Hermione, nodding at her and Cedric as if they were distant acquaintances.

Hermione checked her watch. 11:53am. Still no sign of Fleur.

The door of the tent flapped open dramatically and Ludo Bagman strutted in. He had a broad smile on his face and was wearing bright yellow robes. Holding a small velvet bag in one hand, he ran his fingers through his thick brown hair to sweep it out of his eyes.

Cedric whooped at the sight of Bagman and high-fived him, bouncing higher on the spot as he jumped around the tent. Krum scowled at them both.

"Hello, my wonderful champions!" Bagman exclaimed in his booming voice. Cedric whooped again and accidentally sent red sparks into the air with his wand.

"Will you _sit down_!?" Krum hissed at Cedric as he was mid-bounce.

"Ah, sure, no problem man," Cedric replied sheepishly, sitting quickly in a nearby chair. His foot began to tap incessantly.

"But, we are one short?" Bagman said, looking around with a frown. He checked his watch and tutted. "Typical of the French I must say, always choosing to be fashionably la-,"

The door flap was pushed open again as Fleur limped in. She clutched Professor McGonagall's arm for support as she walked in. She looked somewhat paler than when Hermione had last seen her and Hermione could see a blue bandage strapped around her thigh.

"Ms Delacour!" Bagman exclaimed, rushing toward her. "What have you done to your leg!?"

"It is nothing," Fleur said, exhaling as she lowered herself into her seat near the door. Krum was staring at her suspiciously and Cedric had a look of sympathy on his face. Hermione caught Fleur's eye but quickly looked away.

"Well, er, okay" Bagman said lamely. "Minerva, I must ask that you leave the tent as it is time for the champions only-"

"I will not be leaving," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "I am here on the request of Madam Maxime, which has been approved by the other Headmaster's. You can take it up with them if you object. I will not be coaching any champions during this time, I am simply a mediator."

Bagmans eyebrows raised high on his head. McGonagall's eyes flickered toward Hermione.

"No, no, I'm sure the reasoning is perfectly fine," Bagman mumbled, the bounce in his voice leaving him. He cleared his throat.

"Er, now that we're all here we should get started. So!" He brandished the bag in front of them.

"In here are four creatures that you are all set to face. You will be judged on the accuracy, speed, creativity and innovation you use to obtain the creature's egg. The number around the creature's neck will indicate which order you are to go in."

He walked toward Fleur.

"Ladies first."

Fleur reached into the bag and pulled out a tiny moving replica of the green dragon Hermione had seen in the forest. It had a "2" around its neck. Fleur looked relieved.

"The Common Welsh Green!" Bagman declared.

Seeming to forget that Hermione was also a lady, Bagman moved on to Krum. He reached into the bag and withdrew the black dragon, a number "4" around its neck. Krum swallowed heavily but did not appear surprised.

"Ah, the Hungarian Horntail. Watch out for that tail, Mr Krum!"

Cedric was next. He stood up as Bagman approached and rubbed his hands together excitedly. Closing his eyes, Cedric reached into the bag and withdrew the blue dragon, a number "3" around its neck.

"The Swedish Short Snout! The most beautiful of the four, I must say."

Cedric looked pleased.

Hermione felt her stomach sink. Not only did she have to go first but she knew which dragon was left.

She reached into Bagman's bag and slowly withdrew the red dragon. It sent a tiny plume of flames from its mouth as she stared, a number "1" around its neck.

"Lucky last, the Chinese Fireball," Bagman said, and then lowering his voice to a whisper added, "usually this dragon is a bit more placid but she's just laid her eggs, so…"

Bagman stood up and shoved the now empty bag back into his pocket.

"There you have it! Ms Granger will be first followed by Ms Delacour, Mr Diggory and Mr Krum. Please wait inside until you hear the cannon boom and then walk along the red carpet into the stadium. Good luck!" He strutted back out of the tent, the door flapping behind him as he left.

They sat in the tent in silence. Cedric, so full of energy a moment ago, was now sitting on the ground and looked quite green. Krum tapped his wand against his leg. McGonagall stood behind Fleur, her arms folded.

_Okay, I have to focus_, Hermione thought. _If I don't focus, my spells aren't going to work_. But the harder she tried to concentrate, the less she could formulate her thoughts. The past three hours buzzed around in her head like angry bees and her palms were sweating profusely.

Suddenly, an explosion of cheering met their ears. Bagman was speaking over the crowd though they couldn't hear what he was saying. A loud gasp interrupted the cheering as the unmistakable roar of a dragon echoed around the grounds.

A loud cannon boomed in the distance and Hermione thought she might be sick. Slowly standing to her feet, she grasped her wand tightly and willed one foot to move in front of the other.

Krum and Cedric both murmured good luck as she passed and she nodded at them.

She reached the door and sensed McGonagall stiffen. Fleur was looking up at her but Hermione avoided her eye and tried to look confident as she walked out of the tent.

A long red carpet lay ahead of her and she couldn't help but note the over-extravagance of it all.

_Focus, focus. I'll walk into the arena and then I'll assess the environment… I'll do the charm… the one I've practiced so much with Fleur… no!_

She stopped and shook her head vigorously as if hoping it would clear her head.

_Get a grip on yourself!_

She could see a large wooden door ahead and she walked slowly toward it, taking deep breathes with each step.

She pushed the door open and the scene exploded before her.

The Chinese Fireball stood about 50 metres away; sitting with its wings furled and its head resting on the ground. There were large rocks scattered around the arena but otherwise it was mainly bare.

Minimal cover, this suited Hermione's plan well.

Hermione was aware that the crowd around her was roaring, all the colours of the schools surrounding her like a patchy quilt. Bagman's booming voice resonated around the stadium as he excitedly shouted, "Ah finally, here she is! Let the first task… begin!"

The roar of the crowd grew even louder at this announcement and Hermione walked forward. The Chinese Fireball raised its head and snapped its frothing jaws. Its message was clear; _don't come any closer if you know what's good for you._

Hermione took a deep breath and forced herself to clear her head. The crowd went silent as she raised her wand and cried "_Gemino!"_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey folks! Thanks again for all your reviews/follows/favourites. I'm really enjoying writing this story and love to hear all the feedback you have to give. I've structured this story in more of a book format i.e. little clues littered throughout the chapters that will pay off later in the fic so it will be great to get your theories! I've plotted out this entire story but have a diverged a bit on some of the points as the writing organically went down another path. This fic is both drama/romance so the plot is a big part of it, rather than it being a big smut-fest (apologies to those wanting a quick pay off). As we continue, Fleur and Hermione start to interact more and more and get closer. But, ya know there's got to be angst. Enjoy :)**

o-o-o-o-o-o

The crowd let out a collective, "_oooooooh_" as hundreds of flashing Omnoculours glinted in Hermione's direction.

Madam Maxime stood from her seat at the judges table, Karkaroff's mouth dropped open into a perfect "o" shape and Fontaine paused mid-bite into a pumpkin pasty. Even the dragon seemed impressed, stopping its snarling for a moment to stare interestedly. It titled its head like a curious puppy.

"Merlin's Beard!" Bagmans voice exclaimed to the crowd. "What a piece of magic that is! I know some Ministry wizards who can't even do that!"

The rising noise of the crowd rung in Hermione's ears as she stared at the clone she had made of herself.

The clone stood limp, its eyes glassy like a doll. Its facial features were waxy as if crafted clumsily and the robes were a dark blue instead of black. Clumps of hair were missing from its head and it stood a couple of inches shorter than Hermione. It would never fool a wizard, but a dragon was a different story.

Hermione had thought of the plan to clone herself as she snuck back through the castle after her adventure into the forest. She didn't know if it was even _possible _to create a clone of a human but she was willing to push the boundaries of magic to find out.

Once she had made it safely back to the common room, she had tested her theory. Tapping herself on the head, she had muttered "_Gemino_", before recoiling in horror.

A creature with similar features to Frankenstein's monster had appeared before her, its limbs at odd angles and eyes pointing in different directions. It barely resembled her and she had shot a curse at it to destroy it.

Her second attempt was not much better. Her third attempt had one leg. Her fourth attempt had no legs.

She had practiced until the morning sun slowly crept up and filled the common room with red light. Exhausted, she had finally managed to create a clone that resembled her closely enough to fool someone like Crabbe.

But the clone now standing in front of her was messy. It wasn't as polished as her best effort and was slightly creeping Hermione out.

_If I had a clearer head, it would've come out better_, she thought as the clone looked at her stupidly. She was finding it extremely hard to focus with the noise of the crowd around her and couldn't help but notice Rita Skeeter sitting in the media dugout, her Quick Quote's Quill scribbling away.

Trying to concentrate, Hermione tapped her head with her wand once again.

The cool effect of the Disillusionment Charm rolled down her body, slowly camouflaging her into her surroundings and the crowd roared once again.

Bagman had not stopped commentating and yelped after she executed the charm. "Would you look at that magic!" he shouted, voice cracking with excitement. "Who would've thought that the underdog was this good!"

_Why does everyone keep calling me the underdog!? _Hermione thought angrily, pointing her wand at the clone.

It turned clumsily and began to run forward, leaning to one side and narrowly avoiding a large boulder. The dragon's eyes followed it hungrily, ignoring the real Hermione who was now camouflaged and out of sight.

The dragon ruffled its wings and screeched, shooting a jet of fire toward the clone. It landed far too short. The dragon whipped its tail viciously in an arching circle, but it was too far away to make contact.

"Yes!" Hermione muttered as the clone continued to run in large circles, the dragon's head spinning slowly as it watched. This wasn't much cover to hide the clone from the dragon's view which suited Hermione perfectly. The clone carried the same faults as any duplicated object; if it was damaged it would be destroyed. It was crucial that it stayed out of harm's way.

Hermione began to jog toward where the dragon lay. She didn't particularly like the thought of having to get this close to the beast but she was confident that it was sufficiently distracted. She would have the egg within minutes.

The dragon was growing frustrated and roared again, spat more flames. It slowly stood and Hermione could barely believe her luck as she saw the golden egg glinting so close. The clone leapt clumsily behind another rock to avoid more flames. The crowd began to laugh.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at it too and she glanced up at the judges as she drew closer to the dragon.

Dumbledore and Fontaine were deep in discussion, pointing at the clone and showing each other rather complicated wand motions. Karkaroff looked like he had drunk acid. Bagman was standing, still shouting at the top of his lungs, his hat askew.

Her eyes fell onto Madame Maxime and she felt her stomach drop. Maxime was staring directly at her, shaking her head, a look of disgust on her face.

The image of a couple of hours before flashed into her mind.

Getting caught in Fleur's room, Maxime shouting.

_No, I need to focus._

Maxime saying she would tell Dumbledore about her suspicions. McGonagall coming into the tent on Maxime's orders to keep her and Fleur apart.

The Disillusionment Charm flickered.

_Clear your head before this affects your magic!_

Getting caught crying and running from the Beauxbaton's carriage by other students. Students whispering about who she had been visiting and why. Were Hermione Granger and Fleur Delacour an item?

_What if everyone knows that I'm…_

The Disillusionment Charm spluttered and faded just as the dragon beat its mighty wings. It flew into the air, the chain around its neck jangling and tautening as it moved. A lengthy jet of flames shot from its mouth, licking at the earth and travelling much farther than it could when the dragon was grounded. The fire engulfed the clone, turning it instantly to dust.

Hermione swore loudly but was drowned out by the dragon's triumphant screech. It beat its wing heavily and surveyed its territory.

Hermione frantically tapped her wand to her head in an attempt to perform the Disillusionment Charm again. Half of her body began to camouflage, flickered, then came fully back into view. It wasn't going to work. She couldn't concentrate.

The dragon looked down and spotted the now clearly visible Hermione. It screeched in anger and the crowd gasped.

"Shit!" Hermione yelled and dived behind one of the large boulders as flames came barrelling out of the dragon's mouth. It missed her by inches and she could feel the heat of the flames coiling around the rock as she clung to the back of it. The dragon was slowly making its way back down to earth and soon would be covering its eggs again. She had to act quickly.

"Oh, she's really in trouble now!" Bagman yelled, his voice echoing in a circle around her. "Maybe it's time for the handler's to come out and restrain it before things get out of hand! Dumbledore…?"

_There's no way I'm going to forfeit this _task, Hermione thought. The look on Maxime's face if she failed would be unbearable. A hot spurt of anger rippled through her veins.

_Think, think! What are my options? I can't make the clone again with the dragon so close, it'll be destroyed in seconds. Even if I could perform the Disillusionment Charm properly, how am I going to get close to that egg now that the dragon knows I'm here?_

Hermione rubbed her eyes hard with the palms of her hands, tiny stars popping into her vision.

_There has to be a way._

Fleur's face swam into Hermione's mind as she remembered why she was shown the dragon's in the first place. Fleur had seen the amount of effort Hermione was putting into practicing _Alarte Ascendare_ and said she was wasting her time with that spell, that it wouldn't be useful against a dragon. She was right; the dragon was far too big. However…

Hermione had an idea.

There was a break in the flames as the dragon inhaled. Hermione leapt to her feet and thought _Protego!, _her shield bursting forth just as the dragon let out another jet of fire. The fire curled around the shield and Hermione held onto her wand with two hands as she struggled to keep the flames at bay.

The crowd was on its feet, shouts of concern ringing throughout the stadium. Hermione could see the handlers around the edges of the arena, slowly moving forward with their wands raised ready to subdue the dragon.

Hermione made eye contact with Charlie Weasley and shook her head frantically at him. He stared at her for a moment and then put a hand in the air. The other handlers stopped walking.

She turned back to the dragon.

_Any moment now_.

The torrent of flames stopped as the dragon inhaled once again.

_Now!_

The dragon was hovering next to her clutch of eggs, about to touch down as Hermione pointed her wand at the golden egg and thought _Alarte Ascendare!_

The egg flew high into the air, glinting in the sunlight as it sailed up and over the dragon's head. Distracted, the dragon watched it fly past and Hermione seized her opportunity.

Darting out from behind the rock, she sprinted as hard as she could. Arms pumping frantically, breathe tearing at her throat, she glanced up gaging the distance between her and where the egg was set to fall.

The dragon had landed now and let out a roar of frustration. She anticipated it was about to charge at her in hast to finish her off.

Hermione leapt in the air and caught the falling egg by the tips of her fingers, a catch that any Seeker would be proud of.

Pulling it in close to her body, she landed heavily on her back and the crowd began to roar. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the handlers running forward.

The dragon, rather than run after Hermione, had instead spun protectively toward its nest to check its other eggs were still there. As it turned, its tail whipped viciously.

Hermione felt a moment of jubilation, heard the crowd cheering, heard Bagman shouting his praises before the tail collided with her body.

She had a faint sense that she was flying through the air before she fell unconscious.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"… she's going to be sore for sure."

"Did you see the way that she just flew through the air? Lucky that Charlie was there."

"How about that clone though? When did she learn how to do _that_?"

Hermione's head ached as she slowly returned to consciousness. Whispering voices surrounded her bed and a glass clanked as someone set it down.

The bed she lay in was squashy and extremely warm and all she wanted was to pull the blankets up and go back to sleep.

Hermione fluttered her eyes open, blurry shapes slowly coming into focus.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Luna were sitting around her bed, not noticing that she had woken up. She was laying in the Hospital Wing, the golden egg resting on the table next to her along with a variety of potion bottles.

In the bed across from her she could see Krum's sleeping body, his arm bandaged into a sling.

Cedric lay in the bed next to him, a thick purple paste covering half his face. He was awake but was staring at the ceiling and ignoring the well-wishers around him.

Students from Durmstrang and Ilvermorny surrounded them, sitting in silence.

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Luna continued to whisper frantically, recalling moments from the task.

"Would you lot keep it down?" Hermione muttered weakly, touching her temple as her headache surged. She could feel a cut that ran a couple of inches down the side of her face, multiple stitches pulling it together.

The group around her jumped at her voice.

"Hermione! How are you feeling?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Awful, my head is killing me. How did I get this cut? What happened?"

"The end of the dragon's tail hit you," Ron replied, pouring her a glass of water and handing it to her. "Pomfrey said you were lucky to just have a cut. If more of the tail had got you it would've been way worse."

"You went flying through the air and you were headed straight toward a wall," Harry chimed in. "Luckily Charlie was there and he cast a charm to make you levitate in the air before you hit it."

"Dumbledore brought you here straight away," Ginny added. "The cut on your face is pretty deep but Pomfrey said it should heal within a couple of weeks with no scarring."

Hermione ran her fingers along the cut gently. She felt like her face was barely being held together by the tiny stitches.

"That dragon you faced was _pissed,_" Ron continued. "It was the most aggressive by far, took the handler's ten minutes to calm it down. They had to delay Fleur from coming out for 40 minutes because they couldn't get control of it."

"If it took ten minutes to restrain it, why was the task delayed for an extra 30 minutes?" Hermione asked.

"Dunno, maybe they had more trouble with it once it was outside of the stadium?"

"Beautiful creature's, dragons," Luna mused. They all ignored her.

"What about the other champions?" Hermione asked, nodding toward where Cedric and Krum lay.

"Oh, the whole task was a complete mess," Luna said lightly. "Three champions in the Hospital Wing! And you are meant to be the best representatives from your schools; it's not a very good look is it?"

A surge of annoyance rushed through Hermione; it was easy to say that as someone who didn't have to actually find a way to _beat_ a dragon. Harry glanced at her and spoke quickly.

"I think you were the best by far but, well, you got marked down because of…" he pointed at her face.

"I got hit by the dragon once I had the egg though!" Hermione argued. "It shouldn't have counted!"

"Well, Maxime and Karkaroff didn't see it that way," Ron replied, glancing at the others. "Out of 50 you got a score of 39 which was really good! Dumbledore and Fontaine both gave you a nine and Bagman gave you a ten!

"What did Maxime give me?"

Ron paused.

"Er, well, she… she gave you a four."

Hermione sat up quickly and her head gave a particularly nasty throb.

"A _four_?!" she spat, looking from Harry to Ginny for confirmation. "That's ridiculous! That's… that's bias judging, she isn't being impartial!"

"Totally agree mate," Harry said quickly. "You should've heard the crowd when they saw her score. Seamus tried to throw a Bat-Bogey hex at her but it hit Colin Creevey by accident."

"Her explanation was that the Disillusionment Charm and the Duplication Charm weren't performed to a… high enough standard," Ginny said, not looking at Hermione.

"Which is rubbish because that magic is so advanced that the fact you can even conjure them is worth tens across the board," Ron added quickly, seeing the look of fury on Hermione's face.

She fell back into her pillows, arm crossed.

She knew that Maxime was mad at her but to let it affect the way she judged the Tournament? That was a step too far.

"Atleast you completed the task," Luna chirped. "You see Cedric," she turned and pointed very obviously at him. He scowled at her. "He scored a zero because he didn't get the egg! He got burnt by the dragon within a couple of minutes and the handler's had to intervene. Barely even attempted a spell before he gave up! And his dragon was the calmest, it only burnt him because it sneezed when he got too close and fire came out of its nose…"

"Luna!" Ginny hissed, flapping her hands to indicate she needed to keep her voice down. Cedric had resumed staring at the ceiling. The students from Ilvermorny were glaring in their direction. Luna waved at them.

"Krum scored a 32," Harry said, ignoring Luna and lowering his voice so the Durmstrang students wouldn't overhear them. "He shot the dragon in the eye with some kind of hex which made it unable to see. It kind of worked but the dragon stomped on some of its own eggs which got him points marked off, plus he took _ages _trying to dart around the dragon to get the egg."

"And the dragon hit him with its tail at one point," Ron chimed in. "Smashed him against a wall. Pomfrey said that his arm was broken in three places. It was just kinda hanging by his side but he managed to get the egg. As soon as he got it he passed out from the pain…"

Silence fell between them all. There was a very obvious elephant in the room.

"And… and how did Fleur go?" Hermione asked.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, neither of them acknowledging her question. Ron picked at his fingernails, flicking dirt across Hermione's white bedspread. Luna looked at them all with her eyebrows raised. When it became apparent they weren't going to answer, she gave an exaggerated sigh and turned to Hermione.

"Well, she was just fantastic!" Luna exclaimed. "She scored the highest out of everyone, 47 out of 50. Her leg was injured you see, so she was already at a disadvantage but she really showed great innovation and creativity."

"Okay, Luna," Ginny said, touching Luna's hand. "You can be president of her fan club if you really want to."

"I am simply an admirer of excellence," Luna retorted. She stood and drifted out of the Hospital Wing.

They all stared after her, confused at such an abrupt exit. Hermione was pleased to see her go; Luna's contributions to the conversation were not always helpful.

"So what did she do?" Hermione asked again, breaking the silence.

"Well," Ginny said slowly, "she transfigured one of the boulders into a dog and then she… she used _Gemino _on the dog a bunch and made about twenty copies of it."

Hermione felt her stomach sink.

"I've been helping her with that charm over the past couple of weeks," Hermione said in a hollow voice, realisation dawning on her. "A couple of days ago she could only duplicate a mouse."

"She's either been pretending she was worse at it than she is, or she just practiced a lot," Ron said, staring at his hands.

Hermione didn't reply.

"She got really lucky with her dragon," Ginny continued hastily. "It was so placid; it only attacked a couple of the dogs before giving up."

"The dogs ran around the dragon and distracted it and then one of them darted in and grabbed the golden egg and brought it back to her," Harry added quietly. "She didn't even have to move. It took about two minutes."

They fell into silence once again.

Hermione felt slightly sick. Had Fleur been using her all this time? Only struck up a friendship so she could use Hermione as a tutor to help her win the Tournament?

People had warned her that the other champions may try dirty tactics her but she had ignored them. She chose to see the good in people and it had backfired miserably. She really thought Fleur had been sincere in her want to spend time together.

Betrayal burned through her and hot tears began to sting her eyes.

"She wouldn't even know how to do the spell properly if it weren't for me!" Hermione blurted out. "We know, Hermione" Ginny replied gently, squeezing her hand.

At that moment, they could hear shouting outside the Hospital Wing doors. It was growing steadily louder as the subjects grew closer to the doors and Hermione could hear two women's voices.

"…they are my friends! I want to know that they are okay!"

"If Madam Maxime catches you you're going to get in so much trouble, let's just go back!"

"Well then I will not let her catch me, will I?"

The doors of the Hospital Wing burst open and Fleur and Tess walked in.

Tess looked concerned and was holding Fleur's upper arm, attempting to pull her back. Fleur had a look of determination on her face, yanking her arm out of Tess's grip as she looked at Krum, Cedric and Hermione.

Krum remained asleep. Cedric glanced at Fleur but turned on his side, in no mood to talk. Fleur barely looked at the boys as she began to walk toward Hermione, Tess staying near the doorway and glancing nervously behind her.

Harry, Ron and Ginny stood up abruptly as Fleur grew near.

"I think it's best if you turn around," Harry said coolly.

Fleur stopped and looked at Harry with an eyebrow arched.

"What are you talking about? I have come to see Hermione," Fleur replied, attempting to move forward but Ginny stepped into her path.

"What, come to ask for some more tactics?" Ginny said. "Going to pick her brain on what she thinks the second task will be?"

"I-what?" Fleur said, looking from Harry to Ginny. They didn't reply. Ginny was gripping her wand in her pocket and Fleur had noticed.

"You really want to do that?" Fleur asked quietly.

"I'd back myself against you," Ginny replied. They glared at each other and Harry looked nervously between them. Hermione broke the silence.

"It's okay you guys," she said. "I'll talk to her. Can you give us a minute?"  
Harry and Ginny looked at her incredulously but eventually nodded. Harry grabbed Ron by the arm as he seemed to be lost for words, staring at Fleur.

"We'll wait outside," Ginny said, pulling the doors of the Hospital Wing closed behind them. Tess leant against the wall, not seeming to know where to look.

Fleur sat in Harry's vacated chair and pulled it close to Hermione's bed. Hermione noted that Fleur was barely limping now and walked with a certain amount of confidence. Had she been playing up her injury for sympathy? Anger flared through Hermione once again.

"What was her problem?" Fleur asked. Hermione didn't reply.

Fleur reached for her hand but Hermione pulled it away, touching the stitches on her face as an excuse.

"How are you feeling?" Fleur continued, smiling softly. "I just heard that you were in the Hospital Wing and I came as fast as I could."

"I can see that," Hermione replied stiffly. "You seemed to have healed quickly."

"Well, Madam Pomfrey approached me after I faced the dragon," Fleur said, blushing slightly. "She noticed I was injured and offered to help. She re-wrapped my bandages and gave me a potion that made the bite heal almost completely. It seems you were right, I should have come to see her the night it happened."

"Yeah, well, as I'm sure you've gathered, I usually know what I'm talking about. That's the last bit of advice you can count on getting from me," Hermione snapped. The smile fell from Fleur's face.

"Hermione, wha-" Fleur started but Hermione interrupted her.

"You used me," she hissed, trying to keep her voice low so the Ilvermorny and Durmstrang students couldn't hear her. "You used the _Gemino _charm today and cloned a bunch of _dogs_!? Two days ago you could barely duplicate a mouse and all of a sudden you can do it on a dog!?"

"Because I practiced," Fleur retorted, looking hurt. "After the wolf bit me I had to change my strategy and that was the best I could think of. I spent the last two days perfecting it. I skipped _all _of my classes to practice, I barely slept-"

"So you just managed to master it that quickly?"

"In case you have not noticed, I was selected as a champion," Fleur replied coolly, "which means that I happen to be a little bit more than competent at magic."

"I've been giving up my free time to help you with that spell, Fleur! And you used it to beat me in the task! It's a dirty tactic!

Fleur looked stunned.

"I did not realise that because we practiced the spell together, I was not allowed to _use _it. I had no idea what you had scored or what your strategy was until after I was finished," Fleur replied.

"You've been taking advantage of our friendship!" Hermione said loudly and some of the students from Ilvermorny turned around. She didn't care that they could hear her now.

"I truly cannot believe you think that I would do that," Fleur replied, anger now slipping into her voice too.

"Then why did you always ask to spend extra time learning that charm?"

"Because I like spending time with you!"

Hermione turned her head away.

"Hermione, please," Fleur said, reaching for her hand again. "I came here to see if you were okay. Now that the task is over, I want to talk about what we discussed in the carriage. You said you did not want me to wait for you while you work out your sexuality, but the thing is, I want to wait. I want to be here for you and-,"

"Before you finish that sentence," Hermione interjected, pulling her hand away from Fleur, "should I call McGonagall to mediate? You know, in case we get too close? I know that Maxime set that up and the fact you let her do it speaks louder than any words you're about to say. I thought to be selected as a champion you had to have attributes of bravery. Apparently, that's not true."

Fleur looked like she had been slapped in the face.

"Yo want to be here for me while I work it out so you can get some more strategies from me?" Hermione continued. "So you can manipulate me into teaching you more charms that'll help you beat me?"

Fleur rose from her chair. The Ilvermorny and Durmstrang students were whispering between themselves, trying to appear like they weren't eavesdropping.

"I truly cannot believe you think that of me," Fleur said quietly. "It appears I have made a bad judgement call about who I thought you were. The message has been received loud and clear, I will not bother you again."

Fleur strode toward the exit, grabbing Tess by the hand and slamming the door behind them.

Hermione realised that her fists were clenched and she forced herself to relax. Her headache gave another throb and fatigue swept over her. She thought that confronting Fleur would help with processing her feelings but it had done the opposite.

Harry, Ron and Ginny re-entered the Hospital Wing and sat beside her bed again.

"She's a piece of work," Ginny said immediately, jerking her thumb toward the door.

"Total psycho," Harry added.

"Yeah, she's really.." Ron began but trailed off.

"I think I'm going to get some rest," Hermione said, not in the mood to speak to any of them. "Pomfrey said you could come back to the dormitory once you woke up," Ginny said but Hermione shook her head.

"It's too much right now. I'll come meet you guys up there later on tonight, okay?

They nodded and Harry handed her the blue potion on her bedside table. She chugged it in one go.

A few moments later, the Hospital Wing wavered before her and her eyes drooped heavily as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

o-o-o-o-o-o

By the time Hermione woke, the Hospital Wing was dark. Moonlight poured in through the window and her watch told her it was nearing midnight. Her back ached from the hard mattress of the hospital bed and she yearned to be back in her comfy four poster.

Wishing that she could apparate to her bed, Hermione slowly rose and began to get dressed. Pomfrey's chambers were dark and she decided to sneak out; she'd explain why she did it in the morning if need be.

Grabbing her wand from the bedside table, she realised that something was missing. Her groggy brain was working slowly and it took a couple of moments before she realised it was the egg.

"Shit!" Hermione hissed, turning and pulling apart the sheets. She crouched to look under the bed and pulled open all the drawers but there was no sign of it. Krum let out a snore from behind her.

Hating herself for even thinking of it, she slowly turned to look at Cedric's bedside table. He was the only champion to not have successfully captured the egg and could have easily taken hers while she slept.

It was too dark to see his bedside table clearly enough. She could only make out the shape of his sleeping form as it rose and fell with his breath.

Squinting her eyes, she crept closer to get a better view. Her footsteps were soft on the ground as she drew level with his bed, leaning down to look at his possessions. A tube of burn healing cream, a watch, some Chocolate Frog cards and his wand lay on the table. No egg.

She clenched her jaw and started to walk back toward her bed to look again.

"Harry's got it," a soft voice said from behind her. Mortified, Hermione turned slowly toward Cedric.

"Cedric, I- I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Cedric interjected, propping himself up onto his pillows. "I would be suspicious of me too. Even though I failed at the task, they gave my egg to Fontaine 'cos we need it to figure out the clue for the next task. I just have no chance of getting enough points to catch up to you guys, though."

"I didn't really think you took my egg," Hermione said quickly but Cedric waved her down.

"Don't worry about it. You've had a long day. Plus, by the sounds of that conversation with Fleur you don't really trust any of us."

Hermione felt a blush creep up her neck.

"That was different, she used me."

"I disagree."

"How would you know?"

"Because," Cedric said, reaching for the burn cream, "if she was using you she wouldn't have jinxed a Beauxbaton's dude after he said he was going to try and sleep with you a couple of days ago. She wouldn't talk about how great you are every time we have Herbology together. She wouldn't have paced around the tent the minute you left and got into a shouting match with McGonagall about why she was there."

"She shouted at Professor McGonagall?" Hermione said, stunned.

"Mhm. Asked why it was such a big deal that you two spent so much time together. She threatened to not even go out to complete the task if the teacher's continued to keep watch over you two. McGonagall called Maxime to the tent and they had a huge argument. They had to delay the task for thirty minutes because Fleur refused to leave until Maxime said she would back off."

"Ron told me that the task got delayed because my dragon was being difficult!?"

"Oh, you're dragon was being difficult but it only took them ten minutes to subdue it. The rest of the time was because of Fleur."

"So… so you're telling me that I accused Fleur of using me to progress in the Tournament when actually she nearly forfeited her role in it for me?" Hermione said weakly. Cedric shrugged.

"I mean, I'm no therapist, but I think an apology would probably go down well."

Cedric rubbed the cream on his face and let out a soft groan as it sunk in.

Hermione ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm such an ass," she muttered quietly. Cedric made a noise of agreement. "I need to go and see her."

"Well you're in luck," Cedric replied. "She'll be in the castle."

"Why?"

"At the party, of course."

Hermione groaned. The last thing she felt like doing was going to another party. Her head still ached slightly and she didn't know what kind of state Fleur would be in.

"How do you know she's there?" Hermione asked.

"The party is meant to celebrate us completing the first task and she's the only champion who's not in the Hospital Wing. Plus, she was pretty upset after she left so I would bet she wants to drown her sorrows…"

Guilt flared in Hermione's stomach and she knew she couldn't wait until morning to talk to Fleur.

"Alright, I'm going to go. Are you coming?"  
Cedric shook his head.

"I'm gonna hide in the Hospital Wing for as long as I can. Not really in the mood to go to a party celebrating the first task when I failed so miserably at it. Say hi to Fleur for me."

With that, he pulled the blankets up to his chest and closed his eyes.

Hermione thought she should say some reassuring words to Cedric but none came to mind. When they had first met she had dubbed him as an over-confident pretty boy but he was proving to be a lot deeper than that. In saying that, she still hadn't forgotten what had happened during the Rita Skeeter interview.

Hermione pocketed her wand and snuck towards the large doors of the Hospital Wing, opening them slowly. She knew she wouldn't get in trouble if she were caught as she had an excuse for being out at this hour. However, as she made her way up the staircases of the castle, no one crossed her path. Her mind wandered to the conversation she was just about to have

_I'll just say sorry and then let her decide where we go from there._

She entered the seventh floor corridor and walked to the spot where the Room of Requirement was located. She had assumed the party would be in the same place as last time and judging by the discarded bottles and plastic cups lining the corridor, she was right.

"Good job in the task today, Hermione," a voice said from somewhere behind her. Hermione turned and waved at where she assumed the invisible Tonks was sitting.

She approached the blank space of wall and walked past it three times thinking _take me to where the party is._

The handle appeared and her stomach squirmed slightly as she pulled the door open.

Thumping music and flashing lights greeted her as she entered the room. It was packed and muggy and she immediately felt a sense of claustrophobia as the students wedged in around her.

The room looked the same as it did last time, though there were significantly more people crowding the space.

Large banners of each champion decorated the walls, though Fleur's was hanging by a thread and Cedric's had been written on. Hermione was quietly glad that Cedric had opted not to come as she observed the giant "L" someone had drawn on the forehead of his picture.

She was having difficulty making out anyone's faces as she forced her way through the crowd. Pushing past sweaty bodies as they danced along to the beat, she had to actively avoid being grinded on by those that recognised her.

An Ilvermorny girl stumbled in front of Hermione, grabbing the front of her robes and vomiting heavily next to her. Hermione jumped back to avoid the splatter and held the girl to stop her toppling forward into it. She quickly came to realise that it was probably pointless trying to find Fleur in this environment.

Deciding she needed some air, she shoved her way through to the door at the end of the room. A Durmstrang boy wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she passed, yelling indistinguishable words into her ear. She pushed him off and squeezed her way past Dean Thomas, who was making out aggressively with a Beauxbaton's girl.

Reaching the door, she gratefully pushed it open to reveal a small balcony.

Fairy lights curled around the stone walls and a few concrete benches were scattered around the edges. A spectacular view of the Hogwarts grounds lay ahead in the distance, only being lit up by a variety of Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs as they circulated overhead.

Draco Malfoy was hunched over on a bench, two Ilvermorny boys were in an argument and two girls were leaning against the wall kissing. Otherwise, the balcony was very much empty and quite dark.

Hermione took some deep breathes and let the cool air wash over her. She had no chance of finding Fleur in the middle of the chaos inside and decided it was best to go to the Beauxbaton's carriage first thing in the morning and apologise instead.

A highlighter green pinwheel went whirring past Hermione's head as she turned to leave, letting off a high pitched _wheee _sound as it went. The light from the firework lit up the balcony more intensely for a brief moment and Hermione felt her stomach drop.

The two kissing girls had been illuminated more clearly in front of her and Hermione realised that it was Fleur and Tess.

Fleur's back was against the wall and her hands were placed on Tess' stomach. Tess had one hand propped up next to Fleur's head; the other curled into Fleur's hair to pull her deeper into the kiss.

Tess moved in closer, pushing her hips forward and slowly grinding against Fleur's stationary body.

Fleur broke away from the kiss, her hands now pushing against Tess' stomach and spoke quickly in French.

Hermione was frozen to the spot. She felt her breath coming in sharp spurts as she watched the two girls talking to each other. A sick feeling panged in her stomach as Tess pulled Fleur in closer with one hand, whispering into her ear as her other hand moved under Fleur's waistband.

Fleur grabbed Tess' wrist to stop her movement, laughing as she shook her head and tried to put more space between them. Tess leant forward and bit Fleur's neck and in that moment, Hermione and Fleur made eye contact.

Fleur's eyes were slightly glazed and her forehead creased as she observed Hermione, as if she couldn't quite place her face.

Hermione stood lamely and forced herself to muster a smile. She waved slightly and then turned, opened the door and re-entered the party.

She barely heard the music as she made her way back across the room, bumping into people without registering who they were.

_She's allowed to kiss who she wants, it's not like we're together. I made that very clear to her today. _

She pushed past a Beauxbatons boy who was chugging a Butterbeer, causing him to spill it down his front. He exclaimed angrily at her as she passed but she didn't register what he was saying.

The mass of the crowd heaved around her and she could feel that her cheeks were wet but wasn't sure why.

Eventually, she reached the exit and shoved the door open, grateful to be in fresh air once again. She leant against the wall and slowly slid down it, holding her face in her hands.

_Today I told her that I thought she was a lying traitor, I don't get to be upset about this._

But she couldn't help herself; she felt betrayed.

A hand touched Hermione's shoulder and she looked up to see Tonks standing over her.

"Hey," Tonks said softly, sitting down next to Hermione. "What's up?"

"Oh, no, nothing," Hermione replied hastily, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve. "It's just been a long day."

"Yeah, you were great in the task today!"

"Thanks."

They fell into silence and Hermione could feel Tonks' eyes on her.

"Hermione…" Tonks said slowly. "What's upset you? You can talk to me, you know I won't tell anyone. The only person I have regular contact with these days is Moody and you know what he would do if I tried to gossip with him."

Tonks made a rude finger gesture and Hermione let out a small laugh.

"It's nothing, really," Hermione said. "I just… said some stupid things to someone today that I shouldn't have."

"Well, have you apologised?"

"I tried to but she was… busy."

Tonks chewed on her lip as she thought for a moment.

"Let me tell you a story about my first year as an Auror," she said, reaching over and clasping Hermione's hand. "I had this mentor, Izzy. She had been working as an Auror for a couple of years and took me under her wing to help me learn the ropes. We got along like a house on fire and became fast friends. I really admired her, like _really _admired her."

Tonks raised her eyebrows at Hermione with a knowing look.

"We worked on a lot of cases together and I created this fantasy in my head that we had something more going on. About six months in, I found out she had a boyfriend. Mate, I was _devastated. _I went to Kingsley and asked for a new mentor. Izzy was blindsided and asked me why I had switched and I said that I thought she had been leading me on. We had this huge fallout and she transferred to the Dutch Ministry with her boyfriend soon afterwards."

"Woah," Hermione said. "That's pretty intense."

"Yeah, well, I was young and foolish. I blamed her for being something she wasn't rather than actually voicing what I was feeling. It's one of my biggest regrets."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Tonks. But why are you telling me this story…?"

"Because," Tonks replied nonchalantly, "I learnt a lesson that I think you could benefit from."

"Which is?"

"If you do not explain, you will never be understood. We tend to think the more a person is right for us, the less we have to clarify our feelings. Like, they'll just understand us wordlessly because you're so perfect for each other. Love starts with idealization, but maturity is knowing that anyone you will love will be a mix of good and bad."

Hermione stared.

"How did you know-?"

"I just guessed," Tonks said with a smile. "I recognise the signs and I've seen the way you act around each other. All I'm saying is that it's important to be clear with someone how you feel about them, otherwise you can't get upset with them when they act in a way that's different than you thought."

Hermione sighed.

"Yeah, well, I think I've screwed up. I've been confused about a lot of things lately and rather than work through them with Fl… with this person I've just been shutting down and avoiding talking about it."

Tonks squeezed her hand.

"Ah, the toils of youth," Tonks said. "Between you and me, I think if you tell Ginny how you really feel she won't react badly."

"What-?" Hermione began but was interrupted as the door of the Room of Requirement flung open.

Fleur stumbled out, her eyes still glazed. She saw the shocked Hermione and Tonks sitting next to each other, holding hands. Fleur scowled.

"Who are you?" Fleur demanded and Tonks quickly jumped to her feet, hand in her pocket grasping her wand.

"A friend," Tonks said simply. "You're the Beauxbaton's champion aren't you? You did great in the task, amazing spell work against that dragon. It looks like you've had a long day. Come on, I'll help you back to your carriage."

Hermione could tell that Tonks was trying to diffuse the situation but it wasn't working. Fleur narrowed her eyes and took a step forward.

"_You_ do not tell _me_ what to do," Fleur retorted, swaying slightly. "And you!"

She pointed at Hermione.

"You do not get to say that I am a liar or, or, that I _used _you because it is not true!"

Hermione scrambled to her feet and raised her hands in a mercy gesture.

"That's why I came to find you," Hermione said quickly. "I came to apologise, I know that I was wrong. Cedric explained everythi-"

"So you will believe Cedric when he tells you but not me?"

"No, it's not like that!"  
"If you have a crush on Cedric then you should have just told me! It would have saved me a lot of…" Fleur trailed off. She shook her head and grappled in her pocket for her wand. Tonks immediately raised her own and walked toward Fleur.

"You don't want to do that," Tonks said firmly as Fleur drew her wand out slowly.

"_You_ have your wand pointed at _me_," Fleur spat. "I'm not going to attack, I just want to show-"

A loud _bang _filled the corridor and Fleur went flying backward into the wall. She hit it hard and crumpled to the floor. Hermione let out a yell and darted forward but Tonks threw out an arm to stop her.

"She's just stunned, it's precautionary," Tonks said, "she'll be fine. I'm going to take her back to the Beauxbaton's carriage. You should get to bed, Hermione."

Tonks walked forward and, with surprising strength, heaved Fleur's body over her shoulder into a fireman's hold.

Fleur's head rolled side to side gently as Tonks set off down the corridor, her robes whirling behind her.

Hermione watched them go, somehow feeling even worse than before.

o-o-o-o-o-o

**A/N: Let me know in the reviews what you think will happen next!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey again, everyone! Wow, so, this last week has been crazy for my story. The number of followers has doubled between now and last Sunday, and a ton of reviews have come in. I wanted to say thank you! A special mention goes to my friend Perpetual Nonsense, who gave me a shout-out on their story. If you've come from there, welcome! And if you haven't already, you should check out their story, too. I started writing this as a bit of a passion project and I wasn't too focused on promoting it, so the fact so many of you have jumped on board is amazing. I didn't even know about the Fleurmione ship until recently, but when I found out I was like of fucking course those two are perfect for each other!**

**Anyway, this is the longest chapter I've written so far, and one of the most enjoyable. See you at the end!**

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Pssst, Hermione! Do you know the answer to number three?"

Hermione jerked her head up, withdrawing from her thoughts. Ron was leaning toward her, forehead creased with anxiety.

Professor McGonagall stood at the front of the room, deep in the explanation about the theory of transforming an innominate object into a sentient being. She tapped her wand aggressively against the blackboard, pointing at a complex diagram of squiggly lines.

She was trying her best to engage the class, most of who were in a state of a lull. Seamus had his mouth hanging open, Neville's eyes were crossed, and Harry was doodling on a scrap of parchment.

"Number three for what? We aren't doing a test?" Hermione whispered back.

Ron slid his piece of parchment toward her, and she realised it was his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. She shoved the parchment back to him, clucking her tongue.

"I'm not doing your homework for you!" she hissed, "Especially when we're in a different class."

"It's not fair," Ron whined quietly, thrusting the homework into his bag. "I have to sit alone ever since Finch-Fletchley flunked out and by the looks of it, I'll soon be following suit. That class is bullshit this year."

"It's not that hard if you actually paid attention."

"I do pay attention!"

"I saw you making paper aeroplanes the entirety of last class."

"It's 'cos I didn't understand what Snape was on about! You're lucky you get to sit next to Krum, he's already done most of the curriculum at Durmstrang!"

Hermione scoffed.

"Are you really about to claim that the reason I'm doing so well is because of Krum?" she snapped.

"Of course not, I just-"

"Mr Weasley!" McGonagall's voice boomed, causing the whole class to jump. "Since you are in such a mood to speak, would you kindly explain the potential consequences in altering an inanimate objects DNA sequence and what the resulting effect a defective strain could have on a sentient being?"

Ron gaped.

"Honestly, Professor, I don't know what half of those words mean," he replied. The class sniggered. McGonagall did not.

"I fear for you all," McGonagall said coolly. "You are part way through your sixth year, and you will be expected to have mastered this magic before you enter your seventh. There is only so much assistance I can provide. You will have to practice vigorously in every moment of spare time you have. A sharp tongue will, unfortunately, not help you in the slightest."

The class was no longer laughing.

"Does _anyone _know the answer?" McGonagall pressed. The room stayed silent.

Hermione could feel McGonagall's eyes on her, so she quickly feigned intense interest in her textbook. She hadn't answered one question the entire class in an attempt to avoid any interaction with McGonagall; the memory of the champion's tent still burned in her mind.

McGonagall sighed.

"If anyone would like any pointers," she continued, "I would recommend speaking to Fleur Delacour. She performed this charm to perfection during the first task and would put the rest of you to shame."

Hermione's stomach flipped at the mention of Fleur's name, and she packed up her bag hastily as the bell clanged to signal the end of class. Ron's ears were red as he threw his books into his own bag, muttering to himself.

Hermione was nearly out of the door when McGonagall's voice rang out, "One moment, please, Ms Granger."

Hermione slowly turned and let the rest of the class pass her, telling Harry and Ron she would catch up with them at lunch.

The last student straggled out, and the door slammed shut as McGonagall sat in her chair, hands clasped in her lap.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Hermione said before McGonagall could speak. "We shouldn't have been talking during your lesson."

"What? Oh, don't worry about that Ms Granger," McGonagall replied, waving her hand lazily. "Mr Weasley tends to lose focus easily. He has bigger problems that you speaking to him during class."

"So, then what-?"

"I wanted to discuss what happened yesterday," McGonagall said. She reached into her desk drawer and withdrew a large round tin, popping the lid.

"Biscuit, Ms Granger?"

"Er, no thanks."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Hermione took one.

"So," Professor McGonagall began again. "Yesterday, at the task. I wanted to let you know that it was not my idea to be there.

"Er, okay," Hermione said lamely.

"It was at the request of Madame Maxime."

"Yeah, I heard that."

"My personal views and that of the other faculty at Hogwarts are not in line with Madame Maxime's."

"Right."

McGonagall nodded, her face relaxing somewhat.

"In your spare time, you can do… whatever you want," she continued slowly. The point of this Tournament is to create close bonds with other members of our magical community. There is no rule against dating anyone, as long as you are safe and… responsible and-"

Hermione jumped to her feet.

"Thanks for that, Professor," she said quickly, slinging her bag over her shoulder and willing her face to not redden any further. "That's really… thanks."

Before McGonagall could reply, Hermione darted out the door and nearly ran down the corridor toward the Great Hall. She spotted Harry and Ron tucking into their lunch at the Gryffindor table and bee-lined, sitting across from them and blurting out-

"McGonagall just tried to give me the sex talk!"

Several students around them looked at her in alarm and Harry began to choke on his shepherd's pie. Ron had paused mid-bite into his sandwich, registering what she said before bursting out laughing. The sandwich dropped to the ground as he wheezed and slammed the table with his hand.

Harry was coughing heavily to try to dislodge his food, tears streaming down his face.

"What!?" he managed to choke out.

"Just then!" Hermione said, barely able to control her own laughter. "She just tried to tell me that I could sleep with whoever I wanted but be responsible about it. I left before she could say any more."

Ron and Harry howled with laughter once more, and Hermione shook her head in disbelief as she helped herself to the chicken salad in front of her.

"How did that even come up?" Ron asked eyebrows high on his forehead.

Hermione paused. She hadn't told Harry and Ron about McGonagall coming to the champion's tent before the first task, let alone the reason why. She knew it would prompt questions that she didn't feel comfortable answering just yet.

"Uh, just with the Yule Ball coming up, you know," Hermione lied. "She was telling me about how the champions have to… to represent their schools positively and, yeah, just came up from there."

Harry and Ron nodded, accepting her lie without a second thought as they continued to eat.

"Speaking of which," Ron said, buttering a new piece of bread, "what are you going to do about that?"

"Do about what?"

"The Yule Ball! You have to take a partner. I reckon Neville would go with you if you begged…"

"Oh, shut up," Hermione snapped, moving the salad around her plate with her fork. "I'm not going to take anyone."

"Sorry mate, you have to," Harry said with a smirk. "I overheard Flitwick and Slughorn talking in the corridor the other day, and they said that champions _have _to take partners. It's meant to promote collaboration between the students or some rubbish like that. I just think it'll promote teenage pregnancies."

Hermione groaned.

"But I don't _want _to take anyone," she whined, knowing this wasn't entirely true.

Harry shrugged.

She sighed and shoved an abnormally large chunk of chicken into her mouth, frowning as Ron's eyes widened at something behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and knew who it was before she had even turned around. The smell of jasmine and vanilla wafted over her.

"Hermione," Fleur said softly. "Can I have a word?"

Hermione swallowed quickly and had to fight to stop herself from choking as the food slid heavily down her throat.

She nodded her head and stood, ignoring the Gryffindor's who were all gawking at Fleur.

_You'd think they would be used to her by now_, she thought grumpily as Fleur led her out of the Great Hall.

The doors of the Entrance Hall banged loudly as the cold wind whipped them open and closed. Filch was leaning heavily against them in an attempt to keep them shut, cursing at Peeves as he circled overhead and threw water balloons at squealing students who tried to get through.

Cedric gave the door a particularly hard shove as he muscled his way in, causing Filch to topple forward and land face first on the hard stone.

Fleur observed the chaos with an arched eyebrow. She looked around and beckoned Hermione to follow her into an empty classroom to their right.

They entered the room, and Fleur immediately walked to a vacant chair and sat down, twirling her wand anxiously between her fingers. Hermione elected to stand near the door in case she needed to make a quick exit. The lock clicked shut quietly next to her.

An awkward silence buzzed between them.

"We need to talk properly," Fleur said, breaking the silence. "I thought I could stay away from you, but I cannot stand the idea that you think I used you."

"I don't really think that," Hermione replied quickly.

"Then why did you say it?"

"I-I don't know," Hermione murmured. "I was upset after hearing the score Maxime gave me and then when I heard you did so well with a spell we practised together… I jumped to conclusions."

Fleur nodded.

"Madam Maxime was ruthlessly unfair," she replied. "One of my friends told me that after the task the Tournament organisers called a meeting with her. They warned her that if she could not be impartial, she would be removed from the judging panel entirely."

"That's good to hear."

Fleur half smiled and glanced to the ceiling as they fell into silence. The air hung thick between them.

At the same time, they began to speak.

"I am sorry for-"

"I shouldn't have-"

They both stopped talking, and Fleur smiled thinly.

"You go first," she said, her wand spinning so fast in her fingers that it was a blur.

"I'm sorry for the awful things I said to you in the Hospital Wing," Hermione said quickly. "I don't actually think that you're using me. I reacted too quickly on minimal information and shouldn't have been so quick to form an opinion."

Hermione knew she sounded too formal, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't used to being wrong, and apologies were not her strong suit.

"Thank you for saying that," Fleur replied. "Maybe it is best if we do not practice our magic around each other, to give you peace of mind?"

"No," Hermione blurted out, and Fleur's eyebrows rose. "No, it really isn't an issue. I believe you. Plus, you could probably teach me a thing or two judging by what you did in the first task…"

Fleur's smile became more authentic, and she visibly relaxed in her chair.

"I have known how to transfigure large objects since last year," she said, failing to keep the pride out of her voice. "I have always been somewhat taken with Transfiguration, it is a subject that makes sense to me. Divination, on the other hand…"

Fleur rolled her eyes and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. She pushed herself lightly off the door and made her way to a chair next to Fleur.

"You know, I walked out of Divination in my third year," Hermione said, smiling coyly. Fleur's mouth dropped open in mock horror.

"Hermione Granger, walking out of a class? Unheard of!"

"It was ridiculous!"

"How will you ever have a well-rounded education _now_?"

"Shut up," Hermione said, pushing Fleur's knee lightly. "I knew after a few weeks that the whole class was pointless, so I dedicated more of my time studying things that actually matter! Like… like Astronomy!"

"Astronomy!?"

"Hey, if I ever get lost in the woods, I'll know how to find my way out just by looking at the stars."

"Or," Fleur said, leaning forward, her eyes wide, "you could find your way out by using magic. Because you are a witch. Who knows how to use magic."

Hermione clenched her jaw to try to stop herself from smiling.

"You think you're funny, huh?" Hermione said.

"I have my moments."

They fell into a comfortable silence, and Fleur stopped twirling her wand. She lay it on the desk and put her hands in her pockets.

"Now it is my turn to apologise," Fleur said quietly.

"What for?"

"My behaviour last night was not… acceptable."

Hermione felt her stomach turn slightly as a vision of Fleur and Tess kissing came to the front of her mind.

"Oh," Hermione stammered, "I mean, you're entitled to do whatever you want."

"Yes but taking a drug I have never heard of is not the smartest idea, do you agree?"

Hermione frowned.

"What?"

"What do you mean what? I did see you last night, right? Or was I hallucinating…"

"Yeah, you saw me. In… in the corridor outside of the Room of Requirement," Hermione said slowly, deciding she wouldn't bring up the _other _time they had seen each other that night.

"I was not in my right mind," Fleur continued, glancing up at Hermione. "I got back to the Beauxbaton's carriage after I saw you in the Hospital Wing and they had thrown a party for me. One of the boys offered me this drug, and I was upset, so I just took it. It is not something I would usually do but, well, I did."

"Ooooh," Hermione said. "Yeah, I gotta say, that's really not a smart move."

"I agree. It made my brain go all fuzzy, and I started hallucinating… at one point I thought that a house elf was chewing on my leg when in reality it was just me scratching my leg."

Hermione let out a small laugh as relief washed over her.

_She only kissed Tess because she didn't know what she was doing_, Hermione thought. _But then… did Tess take advantage of her?_

Fleur continued to describe some of her other hallucinations, gesturing her hands wildly, but Hermione was barely listening.

_What if she doesn't know what happened? She'll feel so violated, but if it happened to me, I'd want to know._

Fleur was looking at her quizzically, and Hermione realised that she must have asked her a question.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, trying to judge the best way to word her next sentence. "It's just, I should probably tell you something you did while you were on the drugs…"

Fleur's eyes widened.

"Oh no, what is it?"  
"Well," Hermione said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "I actually saw you when you were inside the party, and you were… you were kissing Tess. When I think about it, you did look kind of trapped, she had her hand against the wall blocking you from leaving and-,"

Hermione stopped talking as she saw Fleur's face start to blush.

"No, don't be embarrassed," she said quickly, "I mean, it's not like you could give consent. If anyone should be embarrassed, it's Tess. I can't believe-"

"I knew what I was doing," Fleur said quietly.

An awkward silence hung thick around them once again.

"Oh," Hermione said in a hollow voice. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth.

"After what you said in the Hospital Wing," Fleur continued, "I thought that you hated me. I went to seek comfort and Tess and I… we have a long history. She has always been there for me, and I just wanted to… forget."

"Yeah, okay," Hermione replied. She wanted to say more, but her mind was empty.

"We did not sleep together," Fleur pressed.

A million responses came to Hermione's mind, yet none of them seemed like the right one. Fleur had wanted to forget her, she tried to get over her. Once again, the feeling of rejection stung her.

"You can do whatever you want, it doesn't phase me. I'm not your girlfriend," Hermione said, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. Her stomach curled in displeasure at her own words.

To Hermione's surprise, Fleur laughed and threw up her hands.

"So, we are back to this again, are we?" Fleur said coldly. "You are going to give me whiplash with how back and forth you are, Hermione!"

"I mean, in the Hospital Wing, you said you wanted to wait for me and then a couple of hours later you're snogging another girl? How am I supposed to feel about that?"

Hermione regretted the words the moment they came out of her mouth. She knew she was being unfair and yet she couldn't help saying such a cutting statement. She couldn't bring herself to look at Fleur; she already knew the stunned expression that would be on her face.

"I think it is fair to say that I was not so interested in waiting for you after you called me a liar and a cheat," Fleur snapped. "I do not know what you want from me! You tell me not to wait for you, and then you get mad when I try to move on. I am trying to make things civil between us, yet every time I try, it seems I say the wrong thing. I know you are dealing with questions about your sexuality, but I have feelings, Hermione, I am not a toy that you can play with whenever you feel like it!"

"Yeah, well, you don't have to be _moving on _right in front of me, in public!"

"As you have made it perfectly clear, you are not my girlfriend, so I am actually inclined to do whatever I want!"

Fleur glared at her as she stood, snatched up her wand, and stormed toward the door. Hermione sunk back into her chair as Fleur placed her hand on the handle.

"Did you tell your friend with the pink hair to attack me?" Fleur said suddenly, her back still to Hermione, "because you were jealous?"

"No!" Hermione said, incredulously. "You reached for your wand, so she stunned you as a precaution."

Fleur paused and turned slightly.

"I reached for it because I wanted to show you this," she replied, waving her wand in a "Z" motion.

Two shadowy figures emerged from Fleur's wand, floating gracefully in front of her. They straightened up, and Hermione realised they were the echoes of Madame Maxime and Fleur.

Neither solid nor translucent, they had a haughty look about them. No background appeared with the echoes though, judging by shadow Fleur's blue bandage, it was a scene that had happened in the champion's tent. The shadow Maxime was shouting.

"You are not serious?" it said. "Turn around and enter that stadium right now!

"Do not tell me what to do!" the shadow Fleur replied. "You are behaving like my mother!"

"And you do not think there is a reason for that?" shadow Maxime replied, throwing up her hands into the air. "You know your mother asked me to keep watch over you during this time!"

"Well, she should not have. I am nearly 17, I am nearly a legal adult, and I control my own life. If you continue this, if you continue to force Hermione and I apart, I will no longer participate in this Tournament."

"What!?"

Shadow Maxime's eyes were wide, her mouth agape.

"Madame Maxime, you brought in a mediator to keep us apart! Do you not realise how ridiculous that is?"

"I am protecting you!" shadow Maxime exclaimed. "Have you not thought about what may happen if Amandine were to find out you were dating a Mudblood!? This is exactly _why _your mother asked me to watch over you!"

"Do _not_ use that word!" shadow Fleur spat. "I do not _care _what Amandine thinks. If she has a problem with it, she can take it up with me."

"So you are willing to risk everything? For a silly girl?"

Shadow Fleur's voice echoed slightly as she said, "She is not a silly girl." The words didn't quite match the mouth movements of the shadow Fleur on this sentence, but both figures faded before Hermione could squint her eyes to look closer.

Soft light from the window fell onto the real Fleur as she stood motionless, staring hard at the space the shadows had just occupied.

Before Hermione could speak, Fleur stalked out the door. It snapped shut loudly behind her.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The days trickled by and November grew colder as it neared its end.

Hermione dragged her feet as she made her way towards Charms. She had been dreading this class, and her constant thinking about it had been affecting her performance in her other subjects.

Krum had easily disarmed her in Defence Against the Dark Arts, a Venomous Tentacula had nearly strangled her in Herbology, and her Draught of Living Death had been so subpar that Slughorn had given her extra homework for the first time in her Hogwarts career.

Harry and Ron had tried to ask her what was wrong, but she had shrugged them off, blaming it on anxiety about the Tournament.

That couldn't have been further from the truth.

She had barely thought about the egg or the Tournament as they slipped into the last days of November. Her headspace was filled continuously with a certain someone instead.

Hermione had started to grow frustrated with herself. She knew that Fleur was right in what she had been saying. She knew she should feel okay about what her sexuality may be, and she knew that the majority of her friends would be okay with it. And yet, she still didn't feel comfortable enough to admit it.

The door of the Charms classroom was suddenly in front of her, and she hesitated. She had only seen Fleur once in the past two days and, in that instance, she had been walking with Tess. Hermione had darted behind a pillar to avoid being seen, accidentally knocking over a first-year boy in her haste.

"Are you waiting for it to tell you a joke?" Ron said from behind her, hurrying toward the door.

"You're late," Hermione replied.

"So are you 'cos to be on time you have to actually be _in _the classroom."

Ron made to push the door open, but Hermione had an idea. She grabbed his arm, and he looked at her quizzically.

"Hey, do you want to swap seats today? Sit next to Fleur?" she asked, fingers crossed in her pocket.

Ron's face lit up.

"Wait, seriously? I mean, yeah! Absolutely! I'll warn you though, the Beauxbaton's guy I sit next to is an absolute horrific excuse for a human being."

"No problem," Hermione said, forcing a smile onto her face. They entered the class together just as Professor Flitwick began to start his lecture.

Hermione immediately noticed the presence of an unexpected guest; Professor McGonagall.

She was standing next to Flitwick, hands behind her back, mouth taut into a straight line.

_Seriously!? _Hermione thought. _Maxime has her watching over Fleur and me in our classes now!?_

Hermione walked quickly to where Ron usually sat, giving a small smile to the wide-eyed Beauxbaton's boy.

She dropped her bag beside her chair and pulled out her thick textbook. The boy was still staring at her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ron wave lamely at Fleur. Fleur turned in her seat to stare at Hermione, who quickly pretended to read her book intensely.

"Now, class," Flitwick said, clapping his hands for silence. "Today will be a special lesson. We are onto the next phase of learning for the Geminio spell where we will be duplicating medium-sized animals. Hence the reason Professor McGonagall is here!"

A ripple of laughter washed over the students. McGonagall's mouth tightened further.

"No, no," Flitwick said quickly, "I didn't mean it to sound like that. You see, Professor McGonagall will be in her Animagus form. Like so-"

He nodded enthusiastically, and McGonagall's jaw clenched as she transformed into the form of a tabby cat.

The Beauxbaton's students let out a collective _ooooh_. The Hogwarts students, on the other hand, had seen this before and were not so impressed. Hermione saw Fleur roll her eyes and read her lips as she said, "It is not that hard."

"Now, this will make the spell more difficult," Flitwick continued. "It is the ultimate test. As you know, Professor McGonagall is a human-"

"Sometimes," Hermione heard Dean mutter.

"- and so you must be able to duplicate her cat form while maintaining her human characteristics," Flitwick finished.

"But sir, how will we know if the duplicated cat has human characteristics?" Neville asked.

"My dear boy, if the clone begins to purr, you will know you have failed."

The class laughed. The tabby cat hissed quietly.

Flitwick indicated for the students to stand. With a flick of his wand, the desks and chairs levitated to the side of the room, stacking neatly on top of each other.

"Into a line please! Those that struggle with the charm will be first!" Flitwick shouted. The students all jostled for a place. Rough hands on Hermione's back pushed her to the front.

"No, no," Flitwick said quickly. "Ms Granger, to the back, please. Ms Delacour, you too. As we all saw, our champions have already mastered this spell. Neville, you can go first."

A sense of dread washed over Hermione as she turned and made her way to the back of the line. Fleur was already standing there, arms crossed, staring at the floor.

_So much for my plan_, Hermione thought glumly.

Fleur didn't bat an eye as Hermione took her place next to her.

The students in front of them were still jostling for position as Flitwick tried to order them appropriately. His squeaky voice was lost amongst the noise, however, and he gave the tabby cat an apologetic smile as it waited.

"Glad we don't have to go into that, am I right?" Hermione said, meekly. Fleur ignored her.

"Now, now, class, let's be civil about this!" Flitwick yelled, making a _bang _with his wand to get their attention. The students quickly fell into an untidy line.

"How do you think they'll go?" Hermione asked, turning toward Fleur, determined to get a response.

Fleur continued to stare straight ahead.

"I think they'll be alright," Hermione continued, being met with silence once again.

Neville walked forward and faced the tabby cat, pulling his wand slowly from his pocket.

"I'm glad you agree," Hermione finished sarcastically. The corner of Fleur's mouth twitched slightly.

Neville glanced nervously at Flitwick, who nodded his head enthusiastically. He raised his shaking wand toward the tabby cat, which looked just as scared.

"_Geminio_"! Neville cried, and a loud _crack_ filled the room. The cat went flying high into the air, flipping over itself before landing on its feet. It hissed at Neville who had dropped his wand in shock.

"I'm so sorry, Professor!" Neville gasped, clambering for his wand while the rest of the class roared with laughter.

"Not to worry, not to worry," Flitwick said encouragingly, glancing at the angry cat. "You need a bit more practice, BUT-," he said loudly as Neville raised his wand once more, "- not on poor Professor McGonagall."

"She'll be alright, cats have nine lives," Ron exclaimed, smiling as laughter echoed around him.

"How about you go next then, Mr Weasley," Flitwick said, and Ron blushed, pulling his wand from his pocket as he strode forward. The cat looked extremely displeased, and Hermione saw its eyes dart to the door.

"He makes stupid jokes," Fleur said from next to Hermione. The rest of the students were talking around them, so only Hermione could hear what she was saying.

"She speaks!" Hermione replied with a gasp.

"You think you can get me to forgive you by making me laugh rather than have a proper conversation?" Fleur retorted, and Hermione's smile slipped from her face.

"Ron's jokes are stupid, but he can be funny," Hermione replied, sidestepping Fleur's question.

"Just before, when you sent him over to sit with me because you were too scared to face me, he asked if I knew that my name means flower in French," Fleur retorted.

"I wasn't too scared to sit with you," Hermione snapped back, watching as Ron failed at duplicating the cat. His clone looked like a deformed rabbit. "And he was probably just trying to cut the tension."

The class sniggered at Ron's failed attempt.

"Alright, alright, Mr Weasley, try to focus," Flitwick said frantically. "Class, settle down, please. Ms Granger, Ms Delacour, are you paying attention back there?

"Yes, sir," the girls said in unison. The class quietened down, and Fleur lowered her voice.

"You switched places with him because there was no pillar for you to hide behind this time?" Fleur hissed. Hermione felt herself blush slightly.

"Look, I just thought it would be best if maybe we stayed clear of each other. It seems like every time we get near each other, we fight," Hermione replied.

"We fight because you do not make it clear what you want from me!"

"It's not that simp-"

"Ms Granger!" Flitwick's voice squeaked again. "You are distracting the class with your whispering, this is very unlike you! Not everyone here is as proficient at this spell as you are and you are disrupting their opportunity to learn!"

"Sorry, Professor," Hermione said quickly, and Flitwick nodded. He beckoned toward Harry, who walked forward and smiled weakly at the tabby cat. No one had succeeded in duplicating it yet and, by the look on the cats face, it did not have much hope that that would change.

"This is not simple for me either," Fleur said, lowering her voice so Hermione could barely hear her. "It is confusing when you are constantly changing your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind," Hermione replied, barely moving her mouth to avoid being told off again. "It's more like… I change what I think my action should be."

"That is not useful to me."

"Then I don't know what to tell you."

A bang filled the classroom as Harry cried "_Geminio!" _and a stuffed toy of a cat appeared next to the real tabby. Flitwick frowned deeply, obviously frustrated at the lack of success of his students.

"I want you to tell me what you want and stick to that decision!" Fleur hissed.

"Why are you still asking me this question?" Hermione replied angrily, her voice rising slightly. "If it's causing so much drama in your life, why haven't you just walked away?"

Fleur blinked.

"Why do you think?" she said. "Because there is a part of me that is hoping you want to be with me!"

"And then what?" Hermione hissed. "You know I'm not ready to be public about this and you don't want it to be a secret, so how would it ever work? It's a Catch 22!"

"What is that?"

Hermione blinked.

"What is what?"

"A Catch 22," Fleur said. "I do not know that phrase."

"Oh," Hermione said, slightly caught off guard at the change of conversation. "It means, uh, like it's not clear what the right move is because neither option is the right one. The two possibilities conflict with each other.

"Like a paradox?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, I see what you mean," Fleur said, her eyes glancing back toward Flitwick to see if he was watching them. "A Catch 22, indeed."

They watched in silence as Seamus stepped forward for his turn. Flitwick was desperately attempting to explain how to visualise the cat before trying to clone it, leaving Seamus with an expression on his face as if Flitwick were speaking another language.

"What about Tess?" Hermione asked.

Fleur sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"What about her?"

"Well, you guys kinda have a thing going on."

"No, we do not. We are just friends. I have already discussed it with her."

"It sure looked like you were more than friends the other,-"

"Tess and I are not together!" Fleur snapped a little too loudly. Heads turned in their direction as Hermione and Fleur froze like deer in headlights.

"Ms Delacour!" Flitwick bellowed, causing both Hermione and Fleur to jump. "That's enough! You and Ms Granger are causing so much disruption that the other students can't focus enough to complete the spell successfully! Both of you, detention!"

Hermione's mouth dropped open. _Detention!? _She had never had one in her _life_.

"We are not distracting anyone!" Fleur replied, obviously as angry as Hermione. "It is not our fault that the class is incompetent."

"Cheers," Dean muttered from in front of them.

"They are not incompetent," Flitwick retorted, "they are merely being distracted by students who are giving no respect to their peers! As someone who has succeeded at this spell, you should be offering them help on how to be brought up to your level!"

"Here then," Fleur replied sharply, striding to the front of the room. She flicked her wand casually at the tabby cat, and a duplicate appeared next to it. It was an exact match, right down to the piercing look that both cats were giving.

"You, the boy who is trembling," Fleur said, pointing at Neville. "Your wand work is atrocious, and you are not focusing properly. The movement needs to be in sharper angles, and you must visualise clearly what you want the clone to look like. Take a moment to do that before you cast the spell, speed is not essential right now."

Neville nodded his head frantically, eyes wide.

"You," Fleur continued, gesturing at Ron, whose ears immediately reddened. "Your wand work is fine, but you are easily distracted, which is affecting the form you clone takes. Try focusing on a specific marking that the object has, one that is not generic. It will help."

Ron looked surprised, though, for once, he seemed to actually hear what Fleur had said. He made an impressed face.

"And you, the so-called Chosen One," Fleur said, arching an eyebrow at Harry. "You are not picturing the cat as a living thing, hence the clone appearing as a toy. Try picturing the inner workings of an animal, what makes up its mass, what makes it breathe. Focus on that before casting the spell."

"Yeah… that makes sense," Harry replied, tilting his head.

The room fell into stunned silence. Fleur tossed her hair behind her shoulder and crossed her arms defiantly.

"That's actually really useful advice," Dean muttered, and several students nodded around him.

Flitwick cleared his throat.

"Yes, thank you for that Ms Delacour," he said, sounding somewhat annoyed. "Regardless, I will see you and Ms Granger at 7 o'clock tonight."

Fleur scowled and walked to the back of the line.

Hermione had never felt so attracted to someone in her entire life.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione arrived fifteen minutes early to detention, sat at a desk near the middle and pulled out her books. She couldn't help but be early, it was a habit drilled into her from an early age.

She was still reeling from the fact that Flitwick had resorted to such measures and until now thought that she could kill a man and the teachers would let her off with a stern warning.

That night was the Gryffindor's first dancing lesson and, though she was pleased to miss it, she was disappointed to not be able to watch Ron flounder around with some poor girl. The Yule Ball was still a couple of weeks away, and she felt sick every time she thought of having to dance in front of a large group of people.

Flitwick arrived at precisely 7 o'clock and told her their punishment was to study a subject of her choice for the next hour in silence.

_Sounds like my average Wednesday night, _Hermione thought as she flipped her Potions book to the page on the Draught of Living Death. She was embarrassed about her past performance in Potions and planned to make a perfect concoction of the brew in the next class.

The door of the classroom banged open, and Madame Maxime strode in, Fleur on her heels. Flitwick sighed and got to his feet, which didn't make much difference; his hat barely reached Maxime's waist.

"Filius, my student has just informed me that you have given her detention this evening!" Maxime boomed, crossing her arms tightly.

Fleur did a half eye-roll and made her way toward the desk Hermione was sitting at.

"That is correct, she was disruptive in my class today," Flitwick replied.

"And what makes you think you have the jurisdiction to discipline my champion?"

"My dear Maxime, if your students are attending my class then they will be treated like everyone else, champion or not."

Fleur dropped her bag onto the desk next to Hermione and sat down. She heaved out a thick copy of _Unfogging the Future_ which was covered in scrawled drawings.

"You must inform me if a student of mine is misbehaving and I will deal with it in my own way," Maxime snapped, looking around and beckoning Fleur. "She will not be doing this detention."

"If Ms Delacour leaves this room, she will not be welcome back," Flitwick replied, standing firm. "I refuse to give any student special treatment. It was your request to have your students in my class, and I am more than happy to have them. However, my house, my rules."

"That seems to be the case throughout this entire castle!" Maxime growled. "A few nights ago, Fleur was brought to the carriage by one of your Auror's who had stunned her! I'm starting to think there is something sinister afoot!"

"I am under the impression Ms Delacour was stunned for the safety of others due to the aggressive and unpredictable nature she displayed after consuming an illegal substance in your carriage," Flitwick replied coolly.

Maxime glared and opened her mouth to retort, but Fleur interrupted her.

"It is fine. It is only for an hour. I will see you later."

Maxime sucked in her cheeks and shook her head before turning on her heel. She reached the door and said over her shoulder, "If they are disrupting the class, I expect they will be separated for the next one?"

"If it is necessary, yes," Flitwick replied.

Maxime nodded and strode out, leaving the door open. Flitwick made a noise of annoyance and closed it with the flick of his wand. He turned toward them.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he snapped, marching toward his desk and reaching for some ungraded test papers.

Hermione and Fleur began to study in silence.

Fleur would occasionally make a loud tutting noise as she turned the pages of her book, which Hermione found increasingly distracting.

She was trying to read through a particularly wordy passage about the different measures needed to make the Draught of Living Death change from pink to purple when intense scratching reached her ears. Fleur was scribbling an absurd pair of eyebrows onto a picture of a sneering Seer.

Hermione pointed her wand under the desk at Flitwick and thought _Muffliato_. A slight shimmer appeared in front of them, and Hermione turned her head slightly toward Fleur.

"Do you realise how distracting that is?" she said, causing Fleur to look up in alarm. Fleur quickly turned toward Flitwick who was still frowning down at the papers he was grading.

"What spell have you used on him?" Fleur asked.

"I haven't used anything on him, I've put a sound barrier up in front of us."

"Impressive."

"I'm about to put one up _between_ us if you don't actually start studying. I can't think with all the noise you're making."

Fleur closed her book.

"Divination is a ridiculous subject, I do not care if I fail," Fleur said, leaning back in her chair.

"Oh, how cool of you to not appreciate the education you're being given," Hermione said sarcastically and returned to her book.

"Says the girl who walked out of Divination."

_Damn, she's got me there, _Hermione thought. She chose to pretend she didn't hear her and stared at her book hard.

Fleur looked at her for a moment and then let out a loud sigh. When Hermione didn't react, she let out another one. Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Has anyone ever told you you're quite dramatic?" Hermione asked, still not looking up from her book.

"I might have heard it before, yes."

Hermione bit her tongue to stop herself from smiling.

"People are talking, you know," Fleur said, and Hermione's face dropped.

"About what?"

"About today. It seems we were not as quiet as I thought. Rumours about us have been circulating since before the first task, but now it has gone up another level."

"Well, it's hardly surprising, is it? The past couple of times we've been seen together, one of us has been crying or storming off or getting stunned," Hermione replied. Flitwick coughed, and the girls quickly pretended to write on their respective parchments.

"And why is that?" Fleur asked, keeping her eyes down.

"Apparently because I'm a bitch and don't know what I want and I get mad at you for not knowing what I don't know I want."

"What are you talking about?"

Hermione paused.

"A friend of mine recently told me that if you don't explain yourself, you'll never be understood. I know I haven't been totally fair to you this past couple of weeks and it's just… my head has been a mess. My communication has been bad, and I've been getting mad at you for doing things that you didn't realise would annoy me."

Fleur nodded slowly.

"Well, yes it has been confusing," Fleur replied. "I guess I do not see the big deal about coming out. I do not see the need for you to need to label yourself before you even try dating girls."

"You don't get it. You said yourself, you grew up in a different world where labels don't matter. And that's great. But for me having a label… it's like being able to understand who I am. It makes things clearer for me."

"But why must you _be _anything?"

"To me, it gives me my identity. It says 'yes I am this thing', you know? It gives me permission to be the way I am, being able to say a label validates my actions."

"But why do you need validation?" Fleur said, and Hermione started to feel annoyed.

"Look, we aren't all like you," Hermione said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. "Not all of us can breeze around life just doing what we want. I know I shouldn't, but I care about the way people view me. If I were to come out, they would view me differently. It's inevitable."

"The Muggle world, maybe," Fleur replied softly, "but the magical world won't care a bit. You don't have to declare it from the rooftops."

"Yeah, but still," Hermione replied, turning the page of her book. "I'm so sure about every other part of my identity, that's the thing. It's hard to have a part of me I don't understand. For example, if someone asks me who I am, I can definitively state I'm a Gryffindor."

"What else?" Fleur asked.

"There are a lot of things."

"Like?"

Hermione frowned.

"Like… I'm a Muggleborn," Hermione replied.

"What else?"

"Why does it matter?"

"What else?"

Hermione bit her lip in irritation.

"I dunno…," she sighed, refocusing on her homework and scrawling notes in the margins. "I'm an activist for Elfish Rights, I'm a Puddlemere United fan, I'm a prefect, I'm a lesbia-"

Fleur raised her eyebrows, and Hermione's head snapped up so quickly her neck cricked.

"Oh my God," Hermione breathed.

"Well, that is interesting," Fleur said, propping her elbow against the desk and resting her head on her hand.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Hermione asked, her eyes still wide in shock.

"Not really. I just wanted to know who you thought you were," Fleur said. "Are you surprised?"

Hermione paused.

"I think I knew," she said slowly. "I mean, there's always a part of you that knows before you're willing to admit something."

Fleur nodded.

"I would hug you but, well, the charm only stops the Professor from seeing sound, not movement," she said simply.

Hermione stared down at the desk. She suddenly felt exposed, like a dark creature that had been hiding inside of her had been dragged into the light for everyone to gawk at. She crossed her arms and hunched in her seat.

"Here, let me tell you who I am," Fleur said quickly, registering the change in Hermione's body language.

"You don't have to-"

"I am a Beauxbaton's student," Fleur interjected, "I am a subscriber to Witch Weekly even though I hate gossip, I am a supporter of the Bordeaux Banshees even though I do not really like Quidditch, I am an excellent cook, and I am a woman who is attracted to other women, too."

Hermione smiled weakly but didn't seem to quite register Fleur's words. She scratched at the back of her hand lightly.

"So… so do I have to tell everyone?" Hermione asked quietly.

Fleur smiled empathetically.

"Hermione, you do not have to tell anyone if you do not want to. This is your story. There are no rules."

"Right, okay," Hermione said, nodding to herself. "Well, I'll think about it. Maybe start with Harry and Ron, and then they could spread it from there, so I don't have to come out to everyone."

"However you want to do it will be the right choice."

Hermione smiled at Fleur more authentically, and they held eye contact for a moment. Hermione felt a fluttering in her stomach as she looked into her bright blue eyes. A small line appeared near the corner of Fleur's mouth as she smiled back.

"Your cut is healing quickly," Fleur said, breaking the silence and nodding toward Hermione's cheek. "It has faded significantly."

Hermione absentmindedly touched her face, trailing her finger down the cut that the dragon's tail made.

"Madam Pomfrey has some kind of miracle cream," Hermione replied, felling the tiny indents where the stitches had sown her skin together. "I put it on each night, and the next day it looks better and better. It's a shame I won't have a scar, really. It would've been cool to be able to challenge Harry for whose looks the best."

Fleur tilted her head and smiled slightly. She was still gazing at Hermione's scar, though her eyes softened as she slowly looked at the rest of Hermione's face. Her stare, though gentle, made goosebumps ripple lightly across Hermione's skin.

Hermione dropped her gaze and noticed the tattoo on Fleur's wrist had suddenly appeared. She remembered seeing it the night of the first party but hadn't noticed it again until now. It was a simple outline of a dog and was spinning in circles, chasing its tail.

"Your tattoo has come to say hi," Hermione said, nodding toward it. Fleur looked down and placed her finger gently over it.

"It must like you, it hardly ever shows itself," Fleur replied. "It is the outline of a Speropax. I had it done two years ago."

"At fourteen? Isn't that illegal?"

"Probably."

"What exactly is a Speropax?" Hermione asked, watching the little dog as it wagged its tail. "I tried to look it up in _Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find _Them, but I couldn't find anything on it. Is it magical?"

"It depends on what you call magical," Fleur replied. "In terms of its form, no. It is simply a breed of dog. However, it is magical in the security it gives people when they are around it. It is known to be a beacon of hope, of resilience, of peace. People feel safer when one is around. It is rumoured that a Speropax cannot be born during times of strife, but I personally think that is the _only _time they can be born."

Hermione glanced up at Fleur, watching as she affectionately stroked her tattoo.

"How old is the one that came with you?" Hermione asked, watching the smiling girl and feeling her heartbeat pick up slightly.

"It turned one recently."

"Is it yours?"

Fleur pulled up her sleeve and tilted her head.

"The Speropax belongs to no-one but itself," she mused.

"I don't think it likes me very much."

"Why?"

"It growled at me when I said that it couldn't understand me."

Fleur laughed.

"You might've insulted its intelligence, but I think it forgives you," she said.

"How do you know?"

"They are forgiving creatures."

At that moment, Flitwick looked up, a frown on his face.

"Why can't I hear anything!" he exclaimed, casting a suspicious eye over the girls.

Hermione quickly undid the _Muffliato _charm and looked back down at her book, smiling.

o-o-o-o-o-o

**A/N: So, there it is! What do you guys think will happen next? I have the next two chapters written already, so if you get it right, you're gonna know within the next couple of weeks :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey everyone! Another BIG thank you for all of your great reviews! It always lights up my day whenever get a new review and I get to see what you guys are thinking or feeling about the story.**

**Special shoutout of the week goes to ****Redjassy****, who left an awesomely detailed review, and some serious commitment to reading that left them operating at 50% at work. Trust me, I know that feeling.**

**Anyway, I'm so excited to write these chapters now that Hermione has come out. With my writing, I pull from my own experience of the awkward phase where you've just come out, but you still aren't really used to it. It takes awhile to get comfortable having that part of you that you kept secret for so long suddenly out in the open. The character of Fleur is someone who doesn't even think twice about their sexuality; a place that you get to once you've been living the lifestyle for awhile. I love writing the contrast between the two, and I hope you do too! Enjoy **

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

Hermione bit into her piece of toast and set it down, reaching into her bag to check her timetable.

It had been two weeks since her detention with Fleur, and she hadn't come out to anyone else. Not that it mattered.

Rumours about her and Fleur had spread around the schools like a virus, and she had been asked multiple times if they were dating. She had grown tired of telling people they weren't together and had now resorted to telling them to mind their own business instead. In reality, she didn't really know what she and Fleur were.

Hermione still didn't feel comfortable being open with her sexuality in public, and Fleur didn't want to be in a secret relationship. This left them in a strange limbo.

They spent every moment they could together but, once again, their time had become limited. Classes, scheduling issues, and school commitments kept disrupting any plans they made, and Hermione was growing frustrated with their lack of face time. They mainly only saw each other in Charms, which was not nearly enough as Flitwick had separated them since their detention.

Hermione had found herself gazing at Fleur on multiple occasions during class, only to have her partner interrupt her thoughts to ask for help.

He spoke limited English and often would ask her to go over a subject multiple times until he understood. Though she would explain it to him, he often disagreed and argued against her point. She grew tired of this very quickly, and when he had asked her if she would privately tutor him in English, she had made up a hasty excuse.

Ron had been sitting with Fleur, and it brought Hermione great amusement to watch as she failed to hide how much she disliked being partnered with him. During one particular class, Fleur threatened to hex his eyes shut if he didn't stop staring at her.

A commotion sounded behind Hermione, and she turned around to investigate.

Zacharias Smith was standing by the Hufflepuff table, hands in the air. A red-faced Ilvermorny girl was walking away quickly, eyes staring straight ahead of her and feigning deafness to Zacharias' shouts.

"Why won't you go with me!" he yelped, clambering over the bench to follow her. "I'll pay for your dress robes, come on!"

She quickened her pace as he ran after her.

"What a tosser," Ginny said, glancing up from her parchment. She and Cedric were sitting across from Hermione, frantically trying to finish their Transfiguration homework. Cedric leaned over to look at what she had written.

"I thought the second step to vanishing an object was visualisation," Cedric said, frowning as he read her scrawled handwriting.

"Nah, that's the first step, Ced," Ginny replied lightly, rolling up her parchment as he frantically tried to continue to read it. "You would be lost without me, you know that?"

"That I do," he replied, smiling as he rolled up his own homework.

"Feel like going for a walk around the grounds before class?"

"Sure, I want to see if the Speropax is out. I love that dog."

"Really? It always growls at me whenever I'm near it," Ginny shrugged.

They waved at Hermione as they walked toward the doors, chatting amicably.

Hermione watched them as they left. She knew that they had struck up quite the friendship after sharing a class together, so it was no surprise when Ginny told the gang that Cedric had asked her to the ball. Strictly as friends, of course.

Neither Harry nor Ron was pleased to hear that she had said yes, and they both pestered her constantly to take back her word. Despite Hermione vouching for him, they still hadn't forgiven Cedric for what had been published in Rita Skeeter's article.

Hermione returned to observing her timetable. Whenever people weren't gossiping about whether she and Fleur were an item, they were talking about the Yule Ball.

The talk was so rife that Professor McGonagall had resorted to banning the topic in her class and Snape had given Ron detention when he had asked whether he would be giving the Slytherin's dancing lessons.

Though people thought Hermione might be off the market, it had not stopped them from trying their luck anyway.

A fourth-year Ravenclaw boy had walked up to her in the corridors, trembling from head to foot, and thrown some Treacle Tart into her hands before asking if she would go with him. She had said no unintentionally quickly, and he looked slightly hurt.

Padma Patil had asked her in the girl's bathroom, Terry Boot had asked her while they wrestled an infuriated Blast-Ended Skrewt in Care of Magical Creatures, and Seamus Finnegan had yelled across the common room one evening while she had been doing homework if she would rather do him instead.

She had rejected all of these advances and had resorted to saying her reasoning was because she was already going with someone, which made the Fleur/Hermione rumour mill go into overdrive.

Hermione was so immersed in her thoughts that she barely noticed Harry and Ron sit down across from her. Ron waved his hand in front of her face, and she jumped slightly at the sudden sight of them.

"Did you see Zacharias get shut down just before?" Ron asked, dishing himself some eggs. "He's a prat, that girl couldn't get away fast enough."

"I'd watch out if I were you, Hermione," Harry added. "I overheard him talking in Defence Against the Dark Arts about how he's going to ask every girl he can until one says yes."

"Looks like he'll be going by himself then," Hermione replied, and the boys laughed.

"Do you know who you're going to take yet?" Harry asked, and Hermione's shoulders slumped.

"No. I really wish it wasn't compulsory to take someone. What's wrong with a champion going by themselves? Why do I need someone draped over my arm to validate my status as a worthy competitor?"

"Bureaucrats, that's why," Ron replied, tucking into his eggs. "Some ridiculous rumours are going around that you and Fleur are going together. Don't worry, whenever anyone asks I've been shutting it down."

Hermione smiled weakly but didn't reply. She had tried to find the right time to sit the boys down and have a coming out discussion, but every time an opportunity presented itself, she balked.

She had already informed Harry, Ron and Ginny that she and Fleur were on good terms again. They had promised to be civil toward her, though Ginny only agreed begrudgingly. Whenever Fleur was in their presence, Ginny was noticeably silent.

"You just need to bite the bullet and ask someone," Harry said as he piled sausages onto his plate. "Anyone would say yes to you, mate. Just try to pick someone you think you could stand to spend time with for an entire night."

Hermione knew exactly who that person was and, as if right on cue, Fleur sat down next to her.

Ron dropped his spoon, which clattered loudly and fell to the floor. He dived under the table to retrieve it, hitting his head as he stood back up again.

"Good morning," Fleur said, giving Hermione's knee a light squeeze under the table. She had her hair swept up into a messy bun and was wearing mascara, which made her blue eyes pop more than usual. The delicate golden bracelets on her wrists chimed as she reached over and took a crust from Hermione's plate, popping it into her mouth.

Harry and Ron were both gawking at her and Hermione understood why; she clearly had her Veela charm on. Hermione was having trouble keeping her eyes off of her too and found herself staring at Fleur's lips. They looked so soft.

She cleared her throat and forced herself to focus.

"Turn your Veela charm off, the boys can't handle it," Hermione whispered to her. Fleur frowned.

"It is not on," she replied, a smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

"Oh," was all Hermione could muster.

"Hi, Fleur!" Ron exclaimed a little too loudly. "Have you, um, have you finished our Charms homework?"

Fleur dragged her eyes away from Hermione and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I have, and no you cannot cheat off of me."

Ron laughed a little bit too hard, stammering as he tried to explain that wasn't his intention. Fleur turned back to Hermione as he continued to babble away.

"I came over to see if you saw the notice about the dancing lessons?" Fleur asked, and Ron stopped talking. Harry leant over his sausages to hide his laughter.

"What, no?" Hermione replied.

"Tomorrow night after dinner, we are practising with the Gryffindor's," Fleur said, her eyes shining, "and Durmstrang will be there too, but we can ignore them."

Ron laughed loudly and leant over to high five Fleur. She looked at his hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked bluntly and Ron quickly pretended he had been reaching over for the bacon.

"I've managed to skip the other dance lessons so I'll probably try to do that for this one too. I'm… not very good," Hermione mumbled.

"Then you are in luck because I am excellent," Fleur beamed. "We can partner up."

"But you're both girls?" Ron interjected, and Hermione saw annoyance flicker over Fleur's face. "Who's going to lead?"

"Trust me, I know how to take the lead," Fleur replied.

Hermione's ears suddenly felt very warm. Ron began to giggle.

"Yeah, okay, that sounds good," Hermione said, ignoring Ron. "I'll see you there?"

"I will look forward to it," Fleur said gently, her fingers brushing ever so slightly over Hermione's under the table.

Fleur picked up her bag and stood, made for walking away when Ron blurted out.

"Come to Hogsmeade with us this weekend!"

Fleur turned back toward Ron slowly.

"What is this, Hogsmeade?" she asked.

"It's, like a village not far from here," Ron gushed. "We only get to go every so often and this weekend is one of those times. The three of us are going together, come with us, it'll be fun! I can show you around, there's this great joke shop called Zonko's that-"

"Are you okay with me coming?" Fleur interrupted, speaking directly to Hermione.

"Yeah, of course," she said quickly. "I was going to see if you wanted to come, but I was going to wait until Charms to ask."

_Because I wanted it to go with just the two of us_, she thought grumpily.

"Well then, I would love to," Fleur said, readjusting her bag on her back. "I will see you at the dance lesson tomorrow night."

She gave a small wave and strode out of the hall.

Hermione was aware that several students had turned around to watch her interaction with Fleur, not bothering to hide their curiosity.

Ron was smiling stupidly but dropped it quickly when Harry punched him hard on the arm.

"Ow, what was that for!" Ron yelped, rubbing the spot where Harry made contact.

"Read the fucking room, man!" Harry replied, shaking his head and putting the last bit of sausage into his mouth.

"What do you mean?" Ron whined, and Harry ignored him. He glanced up at Hermione with a knowing look, and she quickly dropped her gaze back to her timetable.

She had a feeling that maybe her sexuality wasn't as much of a secret as she thought.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The Gryffindor's chatted excitedly with each other as they milled around inside the Great Hall, waiting for the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's students to arrive.

The usual tables and chairs had been pushed back, leaving ample space in the middle for them to practice dancing.

Ginny and Dean were currently doing a bastardised version of the foxtrot, jumping around the dancefloor to the amusement of their peers. They had looks of intense seriousness on their faces, and Ginny was sporting a pout that could challenge any supermodel in the world.

The Gryffindor's barked cheers of encouragement as they danced. Seamus shouted, "Ten's, ten's, ten's across the board!" as Dean and Ginny trotted past.

Hermione stood at the back of the crowd, leaning against the wall. She wanted to stay as inconspicuous as possible and was looking forward to the lesson being over. If Fleur hadn't promised to be there, she would've made an excuse not to come.

The doors were flung open, and McGonagall walked in; Beauxbaton's and Durmstrang students in tow. They glanced nervously at the raucous Hogwarts students and McGonagall clapped her hands sharply to get their attention.

Hermione noticed Fleur immediately, chatting amicably with a girl from Beauxbaton's. Her stomach flipped slightly, and she forced herself to tear her eyes away.

The noise slowly subsided, and Ginny and Dean took a sweeping bow before blending back into the crowd.

"I'm glad to see you are so enthusiastic about our lesson," McGonagall said sarcastically. She directed the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's students to stand near the Hogwarts students and waved her wand.

An old gramophone appeared next to her; playing a slow, scratchy tune.

"Same partners as last time if you can!" McGonagall shouted. "Let's pick up from where we left off last week."

There was much bustling and pushing as students struggled past each other to find to their partners. Hermione felt her stomach sink; this was precisely why she didn't want to come. She had no idea what she was doing, and everyone else had already had two lessons to learn.

She saw Fleur smile at her partner, another Beauxbaton's girl, and lead her onto the dance floor. Hermione immediately lost interest in being in the room, and she began to plot her escape when Katie Bell appeared in front of her.

"Hey, need a partner?" she asked, holding her hand out.

"Oh, I'm horrible," Hermione said quickly. "I haven't been to one of these."  
"It's alright, I'll show you how to do it. My partner was Alicia, but she's sick. I'm a pro at the waltz, come on."

She grabbed Hermione's hand and led her toward the dancefloor. Students were waltzing around her as Hermione stood stupidly in the middle, eyebrows raised at Katie.

Katie took one of Hermione's hands and placed it on her shoulder, grasping the other one in her hand. She wrapped her free hand around Hermione's waist and started to guide her around the dancefloor.

Hermione kept dropping her gaze to her own feet, scared that she was going to step on Katie's as they moved, but she needn't have bothered. Katie swept her feet so quickly that she avoided Hermione's toes any time they fell out of step. She led Hermione with the smallest of pressure on her back and Hermione found she was soon starting to enjoy herself.

McGonagall was barking directions as they waltzed, giving tips here and there and correcting technique as she saw fit. She shot a spell at a Durmstrang boy's foot after he kept stepping on his partner's toes and he cried out in surprise.

"I see improvements!" McGonnell exclaimed, ignoring the furious Durmstrang student's protests. The gramophone wailed loudly next to her, and she waved her wand to lower the volume. "Ms Granger and Ms Bell are leading by example!"

Hermione shrunk slightly as the other students stopped and turned toward them. Katie smirked and pulled Hermione in closer, so they were pressed right against each other. They glided and twirled around the dancefloor and Hermione glanced down at her feet to make sure she wasn't about to step on Katie; they were so close she could barely tell whose feet were whose.

"Don't worry about that, I've got it under control," Katie said and let go of Hermione's waist briefly, hooking her finger under Hermione's chin and gently pushing her head up, so their eyes were locked. Their faces were incredibly close, and Katie smirked slightly.

The students around them began to wolf whistle and jeer, and Hermione realised they were in quite the precarious position. She blinked quickly and broke eye contact, shifting her gaze to behind Katie's head.

Fleur was standing in her line of vision; arms crossed tightly, wand in hand, a murderous look on her face. The Beauxbaton's girl she had been dancing with was lightly pulling her arm to try to continue their waltz, but Fleur paid her no notice. Hermione saw her readjust her grip on her wand.

"Settle down, settle down," McGonagall snapped at the overexcited crowd. She gestured at Hermione and Katie. "Outstanding, ladies. Now, time to swap partners! Try to maintain the correct posture and adjust accordingly to your new partner's style. I'm looking at you, Longbottom!"

There was much jostling again as students desperately ran to get a decent partner. Seamus and Dean were arguing over who got to dance with a perplexed looking Durmstrang girl.

"Now, now, let's not lose our minds," McGonagall barked. "This round will be freestyle, you can choose which dance style you prefer. _Not _that one, Ms Weasley," McGonagall snapped as Ginny began to do the Macarena.

Hermione let go of Katie and stepped back, made to turn away, but Katie held tight to her hand and pulled her close again.

"Have you asked anyone to the ball yet?" Katie asked eyebrows raised hopefully.

"Oh, um, yeah I have," Hermione lied, and Katie's face fell.

"Well, what about a date instead? We could go to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Katie pressed.

"She is busy this weekend," a cold voice said from behind them, and Katie turned to see a stony-faced Fleur. Katie tilted her chin up, eyes flickering down to Fleur's wand that she was still gripping tightly.

"Since when do you speak for Hermione?" Katie asked, taking a step toward her. "Last time I asked, I was told the rumours about you two weren't true?"

"I do not know what rumours you are referring to," Fleur said. Her eyes were the iciest blue, and her stare was so piercing that Hermione could barely look at her.

"Well there's the one about you fucking the American girl on the regular," Katie sneered, counting on her fingers, "and then there's the one that's almost too hilarious to believe, that says you and Hermione are actually together."

Fleur's jaw tightened.

"I do not know who your news source is but you ought to get a more reliable one."

"Yeah, I knew they would be lies," Katie laughed. "Hermione can do a lot better than some Beauxbaton's bimbo, especially one who's a Delacour."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You know what I mean."

Fleur pointed her wand between Katie's eyes so quickly that Katie barely had time to blink. The other students continued to dance around them, oblivious to the scene that was unfolding.

"You really do not want to antagonise me right now," Fleur hissed.

Hermione glanced between the two girls desperately, frozen to the spot.

"She doesn't want you," Katie spat and Fleur's glare flickered slightly. "Did you seriously ever think you had a chance with someone like her?"

"And you think you do?"

"I know that I wouldn't be putting her in danger if I dated her. I know that I don't have a fucked up family of dark wizards like you do that would kill her the moment they found out we were together."

"That- that's not true," Fleur said unconvincingly, and Katie laughed mockingly.

"You can't even pretend to believe your own words."

"Enough!" Hermione said sharply, finally finding her voice. She pushed between them, her hands on either girl's shoulders to force them away from each other.

"What's going on here?" McGonagall's voice rang out. The music screeched to a stop, and the students looked around to see the source of the problem.

Fleur lowered her wand quickly, shoving it back into her pocket and dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Nothing, Professor," Hermione said quickly. "We were just swapping partners and trying to work out the… logistics."

"Well, hurry up," McGonagall snapped, "everyone else is already dancing. Ms Bell, Mr Krum is looking for a partner."

Katie threw Fleur a filthy look before stalking toward Krum, who was standing awkwardly near the back of the room.

The music began to wail once more, and the students slowly started up dancing again. McGonagall looked bemused as she observed the dance styles around her, many of which barely counted as dancing but rather as dry humping.

"To the beat, _to the beat_," McGonagall demanded, but her voice fell on deaf ears. She sighed deeply and slumped into a nearby chair.

Fleur still had her hands in her pockets and made no attempt to come near Hermione, glancing every now and then at the passing dancers.

"That was really uncalled for," Hermione said gently.

"No, it was not," Fleur replied, not looking at Hermione. "She is right, my sister is dangerous. If she found out that I _knew_ you let alone that I…" Fleur shook her head. "It is not fair of me to put you in a situation like that."

"And yet," Hermione said, stepping closer, "I'm a grown-up and get to make my own decisions. I know the danger is there, I've heard the story, and I've made up my own mind. I refuse to not do something in fear of what may or may not happen. That's no way to live."

"You have only heard the brief version of the story."

"That doesn't matter to me."

Fleur shrugged but didn't reply.

Hermione paused for a moment and then walked forward, gently taking Fleur's hands out of her pockets. Fleur looked up and let Hermione guide her hands into the right position for the waltz. They began to move slowly, and Hermione pulled Fleur closer, feeling the light pressure of their bodies pressed against each other

They fell into a slow dance as the other students twisted and twirled around them.

Hermione let go of Fleur's hands and wrapped her arms around the slightly taller girl's neck, pulling her in close. Fleur instinctively wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist and held her tight. The smell of jasmine and vanilla filled Hermione's senses as they swayed gently on the spot.

Hermione could feel Fleur's quickened pulse against her arm and focused on the pounding rhythm of it. The beat, though quiet, filled her head.

The music became dim to her ears as they danced. All that existed was the two of them, their bodies pressed together, the world around them fading to nothing.

Hermione had no idea if people were watching or if the music was still playing or if they had been in this position for ten years. All that mattered was that she held onto Fleur and that Fleur held onto her. At this moment, there was no danger, there was no Tournament, there was no family politics, there was just each other.

Fleur adjusted her hand slightly and slide it just under the back of Hermione's blouse, touching the warm skin of her back. The skin to skin contact made Hermione's stomach flip.

"I do not want to be the one that puts you in danger, and yet I find it impossible to stay away from you. If something ever happened to you…" Fleur's voice trailed off as she pulled Hermione in tighter. She rested her chin on Hermione's shoulder, her breath softly tickling Hermione's neck.

"Your sister doesn't scare me, Fleur," Hermione replied gently. "I've had to deal with a lot over the past couple of years, and if I've learnt anything, it's that life is too short to be scared of what _might _happen."

Hermione slowly rubbed her thumb against the back of Fleur's neck and felt goosebumps erupt along Fleur's skin.

"I like you so much, Hermione," Fleur breathed, and she felt her entire body tingle.

"I really like you too," Hermione whispered, feeling the tension in Fleur's shoulders relax as she let out a soft sigh.

Fleur turned her head slightly and kissed Hermione gently on the cheek, her lips lingering over her skin.

"I want to know what it feels like to kiss you," Fleur murmured.

Hermione closed her eyes and parted her lips slightly as she exhaled slowly.

"I can't, not in front of everyone," Hermione whispered, and suddenly their bubble was popped.

The scratchy sound from the gramophone reached Hermione's ears as if someone had slammed the volume back up. She became aware of the very public setting they were in and opened her eyes, looking around to see if anyone was watching.

The other students were too focused on their own dancing to notice the girls; it was nothing short of chaos around them. Harry was doing an ungraceful tango with Lavender, and she caught his eye as he passed, a smirk on his face.

"Go to the ball with me," Fleur said quickly, causing Hermione to sigh as she turned back to her.

"You know I'm not ready for that," she replied, letting her arms drop from around Fleur's neck. Fleur chewed the inside of her cheek.

"Can you promise me one thing, then?" she asked,

"Sure."

"Please do not go with _her_," Fleur said, jabbing her head in the direction of Katie. Hermione smiled.

"I promise I won't."

"And save a dance for me."

"Maybe."

Fleur smiled slightly as the gramophone scratched to a stop.

Professor McGonagall walked through the crowd, hair from her bun falling loose and a tired expression on her face.

"Well, that will have to do," she sighed. "I was foolish to hope for better. Good luck with the ball."

The students began to move toward the door as McGonagall added, "And behave yourselves!"

A ripple of laughter passed through the crowd, and McGonagall shook her head in defeat.

Hermione and Fleur made their way out of the Great Hall with the flock of students, staying close to each other, their fingers brushing lightly as they walked.

They reached the Entrance Hall, and the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's students broke off to head outside. The Gryffindor's chatted excitedly about the practice they had just had, trawling as a group up the staircase in the direction of the seventh floor.

Hermione paused to let them go slightly ahead and turned to Fleur.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow? After dinner?" she asked.

"Ah, I cannot. I have a meeting with Madame Maxime."

"Oh, I didn't get you in trouble again, did I?"

Fleur laughed.

"No, not this time. We are meeting to discuss the egg."

"Oh, sorry to make that about me," Hermione muttered, but Fleur waved her apology away.

"What about tomorrow evening?" Fleur asked.

"I have to go to the Astronomy tower to chart Mercury in retrograde. The night after?"

"I have the weekly Beauxbaton's supper."

The girls smiled sadly at each other.

"Will this ever be easy?" Fleur said softly.

Hermione didn't reply as she watched the rest of the students filtering out of the Entrance Hall, the laughter and chatter fading with their footsteps. Their cheerful voices sounded as if they didn't have a care in the world.

The crowd thinned, and Hermione noticed Harry and Ron waiting by a large portrait of a smiling King.

"Oi, hurry up!" Ron yelled across the Hall. "All the best chairs in the common room will be gone if we don't get there soon! We can use this passageway to get ahead of the group." He jabbed his thumb toward the portrait. The King looked positively affronted at the suggestion.

"You may not pass through here with your peasant's feet!" the King exclaimed, drawing a sword from his jewelled belt.

"Oh, shut up," Ron said, pulling the tapestry open to reveal the secret passageway behind. The King made a noise of protest as the frame swung and hit the wall it was hinged to.

Hermione smiled apologetically to Fleur.

"Well, I'll see you later then," she said, and Fleur nodded.

Hermione walked towards the boys, throwing Ron a dirty look as he tutted loudly and tapped his watch. The boys entered the passageway, and she made to follow. With one foot on the ledge, she turned her head back toward Fleur and saw her walking toward the staircase rather than to the doors.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, pausing with her foot on the ledge. Fleur froze on the top step.

"I, uh, have an arrangement," she said ambiguously.

"With a Hogwarts student?"

"No."

"Oh… okay," Hermione replied once she realised Fleur wasn't going to add anything further. She forced a smile onto her face as her stomach sunk. The image of Fleur and Tess sneaking off and kissing in an empty classroom while everyone else was in their dorms swam to the front of her mind.

She turned back toward the passage and made to keep walking when Fleur blurted out-

"Do not look at me like that, I have detention, okay?!"

Hermione spun around, a real smile on her face now.

"Another one!?" she exclaimed, stepping out of the passageway.

"Yes!" Fleur huffed.

"What class?"

"Divination."

"Oh dear," Hermione said in mock disappointment. "Two detentions in the space of a couple of weeks, what kind of example are you setting?"

"Not a very good one, apparently."

"Feel like some company on your long walk to the tower?"

"Only if you stop making fun of me."

"No deal."

Ron's head appeared through the entrance to the passageway, visibly annoyed.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" he snapped. "The chair by the fireplace is calling me, and I _know _that prick Seamus is going to steal it if we don't get there first!"

"You go ahead," Hermione replied. "I'm going to walk with Fleur to her detention."

Ron looked up.

"Damn, you have another detention already?" he jested.

Fleur threw her hands in the air.

"Yes, we have established that I have yet another detention!" she snapped. "Harry, did you hear? I have another detention, do you want to express your disappointment too?"

Harry's head appeared in the passageway.

"I'm impressed actually, I didn't think you had it in you."

"You Brits are insufferable," Fleur muttered, continuing to walk up the stairs. Ron made to step out of the passageway, but Harry grabbed his arm.

"We'll let them go, mate," he said quickly. "Don't want to miss out on those chairs, right?"

"Oh, sure," Ron said disappointedly. Harry gave Hermione a small smile before he closed the tapestry with a loud _snap_.

Hermione jogged to catch up to Fleur who was now at the top of the steps.

"That's right, scarper away," the portrait of the King yelled after her, sheathing his sword and puffing out his chest.

"The portraits here are ridiculous," Fleur said grumpily as Hermione fell into step beside her.

"As ridiculous as having two detentions in two weeks? Okay, that was the last one, I promise!" Hermione chimed as Fleur shut her eyes and tilted her head toward the sky. "I think the portraits are fun."

"A small man in a knights costume challenged me to a duel the other day," Fleur continued, ignoring Hermione's jibe, "and I said to him, I said, how will we duel? You are made of paint. And he just kept insisting that we duel. So, finally I said okay and pointed my wand at him, and he stared at me stupidly and did nothing because we cannot duel because he is made of paint."

Hermione grinned at the exasperated look on Fleur's face.

"His name didn't happen to be Sir Cadogan did it?"

"I do not know, it was something ridiculous like that."

"Well did you win the duel?"

Fleur groaned as Hermione laughed at her own joke.

The hallways were mostly deserted as they walked, the occasional ghost floating by and briefly casting its shimmering light across the girl's path. They had already made it to the third floor, and Hermione deliberately began to walk slower, pretending that she was tired.

"You walk these stairs every day!" Fleur had said, but Hermione just shrugged in reply. The wind whipped at the windows, rattling the panes loudly and causing the candles floating nearby to flicker. The bell tower on the grounds chimed in the distance to signal it was eight fourty-five.

"Why is your detention so late?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I kept making up excuses as to why I could not make it," Fleur replied sheepishly. "I said the champions had duties that take up most of my evenings. The old fraud was determined though and said we would set it for later so I had no excuse."

"Why did you get it in the first place?"

Fleur fiddled with her bracelets, a slight smile on her face.

"Well, I was somewhat distracted in class the last couple of weeks with everything going on between us." She glanced up at Hermione's guilty face. "Also, it is so hot in there that I tend to daydream often," she added quickly. "Then, the other day, I said that Divination was a subject for people who are not exceptional at real magic and, well, here we are."

"That's bold," Hermione replied, amusement laced in her voice.

"I stand by it."

What did Maxime say when she found out?"

"Ah, let's just say I am not expecting any Christmas present from Madame Maxime this year," Fleur replied, scrunching her nose.

Hermione watched as The Fat Friar floated by, disappearing through the wall leading to the Arithmancy classroom.

"Has she been better since, you know, you talked to her in the champion's tent?" Hermione asked, tentatively.

Fleur shrugged.

"Yes and no. She knows she cannot stop me from seeing you, but that does not mean she has made it easy. Half of the reason I am so busy is that she schedules meetings to go over the clue constantly."

"Have you talked to your parents about it?"

Fleur shook her head.

"There is no point. My parents have had Madame Maxime watching over me since the day I started at Beauxbaton's. They just worry about me. I think they are nervous that I will suddenly turn out like Amandine. When we found out the Dark Magic she was doing, we were shocked. There had been no signs."

"Well they have nothing to worry about in my opinion," Hermione said gently. "From what I can see, they've raised an exceptional daughter."

Fleur smiled, biting her lower lip slightly.

"And a champion at that!" Hermione added quickly, trying to not stare at Fleur's lips. "The pride of Beauxbaton's rests on your shoulders!"

"The pride of Beauxbaton's resting on a Delacour, how unfortunate for us," Fleur replied quietly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Fleur, you're not your sister. What she did doesn't define your worth. You've proven you deserve to be in this Tournament."

"You are very sweet," Fleur murmured, touching Hermione's lower back but removing her hand quickly.

Hermione glanced around as they entered the abandoned sixth-floor corridor. Her heart thumping in her chest, she reached out and took Fleur's hand firmly in her own.

"Hermione, you do not have to do that," Fleur said as she glanced at their intertwined fingers.

"I know, but I want to," Hermione replied, forcing herself to not look around for any more curious students. Fleur squeezed her hand in reply as they began to walk up the spiral staircase toward the Divination tower.

The staircase curled slowly, and Hermione was soon panting as they continued to climb.

She thought about how it would be easier if her hand were free so she could use her arms for momentum, but she didn't let go.

Eventually, they made it to the top. Both girls were out of breath as they glanced up at the closed trapdoor.

"_Merde_, she is not even here!" Fleur said in exasperation.

"She's probably off somewhere hiding her sherry bottles," Hermione shrugged.

Their hands slipped apart as Fleur walked toward the ladder, climbing it and heaving against the locked trapdoor. Hermione discretely wiped her sweaty hand on the inside of her robes, bunching the fabric of her pocket in her fist. She leant against the stone wall and folded her arms as Fleur pounded the door.

"She makes me come all this way late at night, and she is not even here on time!" Fleur cried, thumping the trapdoor one more time before jumping off the ladder.

"Looks like you'll have to spend more time with me while we wait then," Hermione said casually.

Fleur paused. Tilting her head, she slowly walked toward Hermione, a playful smile stretching across her face.

"What a shame that is," Fleur murmured as she drew close.

Hermione turned slightly, so her back was flat against the wall and uncrossed her arms, letting them hang at her sides.

Fleur gently placed her hands either side of Hermione's shoulders, her face close. Hermione could clearly see the faded line near Fleur's lips that became more prominent whenever she smiled.

"You know, before you said you would not kiss me because we were in public," Fleur said cheekily. "And unless I am mistaken-" she looked side to side dramatically, "-it appears now we are not."

"Oh, you think that's the only reason I won't kiss you?" Hermione replied, playfully. Fleur made a face of mock-horror.

"What other reason could there possibly be?" she asked, inching her head closer to Hermione's.

"Well, now I know that you're a bad girl," Hermione retorted, smiling coyly as Fleur's eyes narrowed. "You're a bad influence."

Fleur removed one hand from the wall and grasped the front of Hermione's robe, pulling her forward slightly.

Hermione bit her lower lip softly, and Fleur's eyes flickered down.

"And do you like bad girls?" Fleur whispered.

Fleur leant in slightly, her eyes still fixed on Hermione's lips.

"Nope," Hermione said bluntly, bringing her hand to Fleur's stomach and pushing her back lightly, "and I sure as hell don't plan on kissing you outside the Divination classroom."

Fleur stepped back, her mouth slightly open in surprise.

"I would kiss you in the middle of a swamp at this point," Fleur whined, her voice cracking slightly.

"That's gross."

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm not kissing you right now."

"Why not?"

"It's not romantic!"

Fleur made a loud _tut_.

"Why does it matter if it's romantic?" she grumbled. At that moment, the sound of bottles tinkling echoed from the bottom of the spiral staircase.

"Because that's the kind of person I am," Hermione retorted. "I like romance. I don't want our first kiss to be some rushed thing outside the Divination classroom before you go into detention!"

Fleur fiddled with her golden bracelets. The tinkling of the bottles became progressively louder.

"I am sorry, I should not push this. If you're not ready-" Fleur murmured, but Hermione interjected quickly.

"Trust me, I'm ready," she said. "I just want it to be perfect."

"Then perfect it will be," Fleur replied, as Professor Trelawney rounded the corner. She had a satchel flung over her shoulder and was carrying a pile of books with two large bottles of sherry balanced precariously on top. They clanked together gently as she walked.

Trelawney froze as she saw Hermione and Fleur, eyes flicking between them.

"What are you two doing up here?" she said, attempting to stuff one of the bottles into her satchel.

"You are kidding me," Fleur huffed.

Trelawney furrowed her brow momentarily, now attempting to stuff the other bottle into her bursting satchel.

"Ah, of course, we have detention, don't we?" Trelawney muttered. She let out an exasperated sigh and waved her wand, causing the bottles and her bag to disappear. "But you," she continued pointing her finger at Hermione, "you walked out of my class years ago, thank Merlin, so why are you here?"

"We were hanging out," Hermione replied shortly.

"Of course you were," Trelawney replied. "I am not surprised in the slightest that you two get along so well. Both of your inner eyes are sealed tightly shut, blinded by your own ignorance to the spiritual world. You may be champions in this silly Tournament, but you are novices in the realm of prediction."

"I think we will live," Fleur retorted.

Trelawney turned her head dramatically, her eyes widening. Hermione had to stop herself from groaning as she knew what was about to come.

"You know, my dear, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Trelawney whispered. "I have seen you in a vision… a dark figure approaches… betrayal… heartbreak… You will be forced to make a choice between the ones you love the most, changing their lives forever... I predict danger in your path…"

Fleur yawned pointedly.

"The danger might have to do with the fact I am in a _dangerous_ tournament with two tasks to go," Fleur replied. Hermione had to force herself not to laugh.

"Well, on that note, I'm going to go," Hermione interjected, as Trelawney raised her hands and widened her eyes further, looking as if she were about to prophesise.

Trelawney looked disappointed as Hermione waved to Fleur and started to walk down the steps. She smiled slightly at the thought of those two having to spend the next hour together.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I like to have two chapters already written before I post updates so that I can tinker with plot devices and ideas that I get as I write. I've recently moved overseas and started a new job so it's been harder to find time to write. I'll try my best to get the chapter out next week, but the one I'm currently working on is a really big one and I don't know if I'll get it done in time to feel comfortable posting next Sunday. In the meantime, let me know your theories about what happens next, and your thoughts about this chapter. Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey folks! Sorry for the slight delay- things have been super hectic and I've barely had time to write. Like I mentioned in a previous chapter, I like to have 2-3 chapters written ahead so I can plant seeds here and there as I think of them, which means sometimes there's gonna be a delay!**

**Special shoutout for this chapter goes out to ****Alicia, ****whose review put a big smile on my face. I try to make my writing as visual as possible, and I've found as I write more it's starting to come more naturally. Thanks to everyone else for the reviews, too! You guys are legends.**

**I had toooons of fun writing this chapter and I had to cut some stuff out/move it to later chapters cos it was getting too long. When I was reading HP 4, I always thought there wasn't enough recognition of the champions by outside people. I mean, this tournament is meant to be the biggest thing that's happened in years and yet there's no fanfare/merch? I ain't buying it. SO, I added it in myself :)**

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

The cool wind whipped through Hermione's jacket as she pulled it closer to her body. The plan was to meet Ron at exactly midday by the gates, and then they would pick Fleur up at her carriage together. He was fifteen minutes late, and Hermione was extremely unimpressed.

It was an overcast day, and they were meant to be going on their planned Hogsmeade trip. Harry had said he would meet them in the village later as he had a mountain of neglected homework to attend to.

Hermione was growing impatient as she checked her watch. She didn't want Fleur to think she had bailed on her and hated the thought of keeping her waiting.

Suddenly, a silver Jack Russell Terrier came bounding across the grounds toward her.

_Ron's Patronus_, Hermione thought as she crouched down to hear the message it was carrying. The little dog opened its mouth, and Ron's voice echoed out.

"Forgot I had detention with Snape. Can't make it. Let Fleur know I'll take her out next time."

Hermione let out an exasperated laugh and pulled her hood up as she walked quickly toward the Beauxbaton's carriage. She couldn't say she was disappointed that neither of the boys could make it and had to force herself not to smile as she approached the wooden door.

She knocked loudly, brushing her hair out of her face as she did so. She needn't have bothered, the wind was so fierce that it immediately whipped back into her vision.

Hermione tutted in frustration and pushed it out of her eyes as the door to the carriage swung open.

Fleur stood at the mantel, and Hermione felt her stomach do its usual flutter.

She was wearing black, ripped jeans with stylish boots to match. Her blouse was knotted at the front to give it a more casual look and she finished the outfit with an expensive looking coat that curved effortlessly along her body.

Her hair was in a loose braid, and she was wearing a large square ruby ring on her finger. Hermione suddenly felt extremely underdressed in her jeans and knitted sweater.

Fleur laughed as Hermione continued to struggle with her hair and waved her wand. The wind immediately stopped as an invisible bubble surrounded them.

Fleur walked down the steps, her hair remaining perfect as she reached Hermione.

"You are late, Ms Granger," Fleur said playfully. She snaked her hands around Hermione's waist and pulled her into a close hug. They held each other for a few moments before Fleur released her, leaving one hand on Hermione's hip.

"Yeah, I know," Hermione said apologetically. "Ron just sent me a Patronus saying he wasn't coming and I was waiting at the gate for him."

"And Harry?"

"Doing homework."

"So it is just us?"

Hermione nodded, and Fleur started to emit a faint glow.

"It is a date," Fleur said, smiling coyly.

She removed her hand from Hermione's waist as they turned toward the track that lead to Hogsmeade. Hermione felt somewhat disappointed at the loss of Fleur's touch but didn't say anything as they walked slowly toward the stream of students already on their way out of the grounds.

"You like that tree," Fleur stated, pointing at the large Beech tree Hermione often sat under to do her homework. "I see you sitting there often."  
"It has the best view of the grounds," Hermione replied. "I can see the lake, the castle, and the forest all at once. It's a nice break from the noise of the common room. It's kind of my safe place."

"Do you not get bored having no one to talk to?"

"Not at all. There's so much to look at if I want to. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll see some creatures. The other day, Professor Dumbledore sat and talked to one of the Merpeople for over an hour. It seemed like they were talking about something really intense; Dumbledore had diagrams and everything."

Fleur tilted her head and smiled slightly but didn't reply as they reached the gates; blending into the walking crowd.

Students from all schools were scattered around them, chatting happily to each other despite the frigid day. Many of them gazed curiously at Fleur and Hermione as they passed and Hermione forced herself not to make eye contact with any of them, already knowing what they were thinking.

She noticed that many people who drew too close to them would be bumped away by an invisible force, causing the person to look around in alarm.

"This bubble," Hermione said, gesturing at the space around them. "Is it permeable?"

"No," Fleur replied proudly. "When performed correctly, the only thing that can come in and out of the bubble is what you want to."

"So, it's also a shield charm?"

"Well… no. It will collapse under most spells as it is not strong against magic. And, well, a hole can be stabbed through it… But, someone could throw a snowball at us right now, and it would bounce right off!"

"Well, that's the main thing," Hermione replied sarcastically.

Fleur smiled and bit her lip as she Cedric's voice rang out from behind them.

"Oi, Delacour!" he yelled.

Hermione and Fleur turned toward him and waved hello. He was walking with a group of shivering Ilvermorny students, his arm firmly around Tess' shoulders. Hermione made eye contact with Mikhail who was among them, and quickly turned back around.

"How are you doing that wind blocker charm?" Cedric shouted.

"Magic," Fleur retorted. Hermione laughed.

"Aw, come on flower, we're fucking freezing," Tess whined back. Hermione discretely rolled her eyes.

_Flower? Really?_

"If it were just the two of you, I would tell you," Fleur replied over her shoulder, turning back and giving Hermione her full attention. They heard Cedric make a noise of exasperation from behind them.

"For all I care, that friend of his can freeze," Fleur said sourly.

"Tess?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"What? No. Isn't the one who used that awful slur toward you at the first party standing with them?"

"Yeah."

"Then yes, him."

Hermione smiled as they continued down the path. They chatted casually, walking extremely close to each other, shoulders brushing lightly every now and then. Hermione felt the urge to grab Fleur's hand, but the mass of staring students around them made her keep her hands buried deep into her pockets.

Eventually, Cedric jogged past them with his group, too cold to stay at the slow pace the crowd had set. He turned as they passed, pulling the finger at Fleur and Hermione as he ran backwards.

"Don't come crawling to me when you two need help with the second task!" he shouted over the wind. "' Cos I'll tell ya'll right where to go."

"Why would we need your help, Yankee?" Hermione replied, playfully.

"Hey, Yankee's are from the North, I'm from the South. Don't be racist."

"Okay, redneck, then."

Fleur laughed loudly as Cedric shot a spell that landed at Hermione's feet with a loud crack. Bubbles began to float from where the spell landed as Cedric said, "You can use those to wash your mouth out."

Hermione popped a couple of bubbles with her finger before the wind whisked away the rest.

"You are all talk, Diggory," Fleur countered, "we will not be asking for your help at all seeing as we have already figured out the clue."

Cedric frowned and stumbled slightly on an uneven part of the track.

"Really?"

"What, like it is hard?" Fleur said, cocking her head to the side.

Cedric shook his head with a smile on his face, turned, and ran to catch up with his friends.

Tess jogged after him, blowing Fleur a kiss she ran by. Fleur laughed and shot a spell after her that caused her shoelaces to tie themselves. She stumbled forward but regained her balance with a graceful twirl. Fleur laughed once again, and Hermione felt the urge to send a much harsher spell in Tess' direction.

Mikhail disrupted her moody thoughts as he jogged past after them, passing too close to the bubble and getting sharply flung to the side. He sprawled to the ground and shot a dark look toward Fleur.

"Watch how wide you cast that spell!" he snapped. "Don't you know how to control your magic properly or something?

"Watch how close you get to us," Fleur replied coolly. "And I made it the exact right width to avoid contact with people like _you_."

Mikhail sneered.

"What a shame you aren't more like your older sister, it seems she got all the talent in the family," he jeered, shaking his in disappointment. He got to his feet and jogged after the now distant Ilvermorny students.

"Jerk," Hermione said once he was out of earshot.

"Ignore him; he isn't worth your thoughts."

Hermione glared after Mikhail's receding back but decided to drop the issue. She wasn't about to let him ruin their afternoon.

"Have you really figured out the clue?" Hermione asked, changing tact.

"Yes, a few days ago."

"Damn, you're really good at this," Hermione replied, pushing Fleur lightly on the shoulder. "First, you found out about the dragons, and now you've cracked the clue two months early."

"I got told about the dragons, remember? And the egg, well, there is a bit more to it than just figuring out what the screeching is."

Fleur paused slightly and watched a couple of fourth-year Hufflepuff's run past with a jar filled with blue fire.

"Do you want help with it?" she asked slowly.

Hermione chewed the bottom of her lip. This was strictly against the rules, and Fleur knew it.

"Thank you, but I'm good. Honestly, I haven't even made an attempt to try and figure the egg out myself yet. There's been so much going on with classes and… stuff."

She decided not to explain what she meant by "stuff".

"You will get it as soon as you try," Fleur said confidently. "I actually worked it out by accident."

"I doubt that," Hermione replied. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

Fleur shrugged as the wooden rooftops of Hogsmeade came into view.

The village was more packed than usual with the injection of the foreign schools and Hermione couldn't see any shop that didn't have a line out the door. Wooden stalls were set up along the street selling merchandise from each of the schools, much of it with the champions faces adorned on them.

They walked past The Three Broomsticks as Madame Rosmerta threw a pair of Durmstrang students out the door, shouting colourful language at them as the line waiting outside watched on in amusement.

"Should we just window shop today?" Fleur asked, eyeing the swelling crowd as students continued to file in from Hogwarts.

"Once again, you're showing you're a lot smarter than you look," Hermione teased.

"Well, I am not the one that people call the brightest witch of her age," Fleur replied and Hermione blushed slightly.

Fleur waved her wand to cease the bubble charm as they made their way into the crowd, staying close, so they weren't separated.

Fleur stopped to admire a set of lavender dress robes in the window of Gladrags Wizardwear, her fingers brushing against the glass as if she ached to touch them. Hermione squinted at the price tag and let out a low whistle.

"Those are three hundred galleons," Hermione said, shaking her head at the absurd amount.

"Oh, they are on sale!" Fleur replied happily and made to walk in.

Hermione grabbed her hand to stop her.

"You're not serious, your wardrobe can't possibly fit any more robes into it if you tried," Hermione said, half laughing.

"These are couture, there is always room in my wardrobe for couture!" Fleur whined, her eyes still glued to the window.

"Come on, the line is so long we won't get in there until midnight," Hermione replied, pulling Fleur's hand gently to lead her away.

"I'll dream about you," Fleur yelled, waving at the robes. Several students walking by looked quite pleased with themselves, under the impression Fleur had been talking to them.

"Look at you with all the jokes today," Hermione teased, still holding Fleur's hand as the crowd pushed around them.

"If I keep making you laugh, will you keep holding my hand?" Fleur replied cheekily. Hermione threw her a look of mock anger over her shoulder.

"It's busy, I don't want us to get split up."

"Is that the only reason?"

"No, the other reason is to stop you going back to that shop to pray to the Gods of couture."

"Oh, now who has the jokes," Fleur jibbed. Hermione squeezed her hand in reply as she continued to cut a line through the crowd.

They could now barely see into the shop windows around them due to the mass of people and Hermione's toes were trodden on multiple times as students pushed and shimmied around her. She heard Fleur swear at someone's "clown feet" as they walked and Hermione couldn't help but chuckle.

They stopped outside of Zonko's to watch a demo of the new wet-start-no-heat fireworks range, Honeydukes to admire a cauldron filled with syrup that looked like molten gold, and Dervish and Banges to watch real-life figurines of magical creatures chase each other.

Fleur spied a figurine of a Speropax playing with a Crup, pointing it our excitedly to Hermione, only to let out a sound of outrage when a nearby dragon let out a jet of fire and reduced them to ash. They watched as the shop assistant hurried over to the display, wagging his finger at the figurine dragon. It lowered its head in shame.

They held a tight grip on each other's hands the entire time, relishing in the chance to be able to touch without anyone questioning why. It was so busy that passers-by barely even glanced at them and Hermione was rather enjoying the anonymity.

The crowd pushed, and Hermione stumbled slightly, nearly falling into a nearby stall.

"Hey, you're the girls on my merch!" the wizard operating the stall wheezed. He pointed his stumpy fingers at an array of rosettes, badges, and flags, all with the champions faces adorned on them.

Fleur laughed as she picked up one of the badges with Hermione's face on it, holding it next to Hermione's real face.

"Hmmm, I think the real version is prettier," Fleur said, causing the man to drop his smile. "You did not manage to capture the essence of her eyes in this.

"Lady, all I needed was for it to resemble her before they started to fly off the shelves" he replied, snatching the badge out of Fleur's hand.

"How much?" Fleur asked.

"Oh, absolutely not-" Hermione began to say, but the wizard cut her off.

"Fifteen sickles," he replied, eyeing Fleur's expensive bracelets as she waved her hand incredulously.

"Fifteen sickles! For a piece of tin with an unmoving picture glued onto it. You are insane!" Fleur scoffed.

The wizard frowned and looked down at the badge in his hand.

"Ah, they're meant to be moving, hold on."

He jabbed his wand at the merchandise, and the pictures suddenly came to life. Hermione observed the cheesy grins plastered across the faces of the champions start to stretch even wider as the moving images waved up at her. Krum looked the most absurd, his usual surly face looking like an overexcited child

"I'll give you ten sickles," Fleur countered, pointing at the badge of Hermione in the wizard's hand.

"You will give him nothing because you are not buying that! Imagine if Madame Maxime saw you with that, she would have a conniption!" Hermione said, attempting to walk away, but Fleur pulled her back.

"Thirteen," the wizard scowled.

"Ten."

"Twelve and four knuts."

"Nine."

The wizard threw his hands in the air.

"Lady, one of those Goblin made bracelets on your wrist would be worth half my house! You can afford to pay full price to a poor wizard like me. I have Kneazle's to feed…"

Fleur rolled her eyes and thrust a small pile of silver coins into his hands. He eyed it greedily as he tossed the badge into her chest, counting the coins quickly and depositing them into a safe by his feet. Hermione tried to grab the badge, but Fleur's reflexes were too quick, and she held it high above her head.

"I cannot wait to wear this in the second task," Fleur said, laughing as Hermione tried to jump to reach it. "Or better yet, to the Yule Ball."

"There is no way you're taking that back to Hogwarts with you," Hermione snapped, still trying to reach for it.

"Well, if I cannot take the real thing to the ball, this will have to do."

Hermione stopped trying to grab it and crossed her arms.

"It won't match your couture," Hermione said grumpily.

Fleur just laughed as she pocketed the badge and held out her hand.

"Come on, we should go somewhere to warm up. Where is a place that will be quieter?" she asked, looking at the buildings around them for some signage.

"The Three Broomsticks is out of the picture, that place is packed even on a slow weekend," Hermione said, unfolding her arms and taking Fleur's hand again. "The Hog's Head is a bit dodgy so we probably shouldn't go there… we could try Madame Puddifoot's?"

"Lead the way," Fleur replied.

They walked slowly toward the opposite end of Hogsmeade, the crowd starting to thin out as they reached Madame Puddifoot's. They continued to hold hands until an Ilvermorny girl looked at them with her eyebrow raised, causing Hermione to let go. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Fleur throw the girl a filthy look.

They reached the café, and Fleur held the door open for Hermione as they entered. It was busy, but there was no line, and they were seated immediately.

The tables were crowded closely together, and Hermione had to squeeze past her neighbour to get into her chair. Students from all schools were situated in the around them, talking and laughing loudly as the voice of Celestina Warbeck crooned from a record player.

The café was a faded pink colour with an array of coloured candles floating overhead. Each table had at least one teapot already sitting on it and was decorated with a simple lace tablecloth.

A bored looking waiter came over and thrust some menu's down onto their table. He popped his gum and reached for a small notebook in his back pocket.

"Welcome to Madame Puddifoot's," he recited, not looking at either of the girls. "Wait for the kitchen is thirty minutes, and the special today is Doxy liver with a side of relish."

"That is disgusting," Fleur said, picking up the menu and scanning it for other options.

"Sure," the boy replied. "What flavour tea do you want?"

Fleur gestured for Hermione to choose.

"Erm, Earl Grey is fine," Hermione said.

"We're out of that."

"Oh, what about Green Tea?"

"Nope."

"Peppermint?"

The waiter sighed deeply and waved his wand. The teapot in front of them whistled and began to levitate, pouring steaming tea into their cups.

"I knew you would choose that one," the waiter muttered under his breath.

"That is funny because it was actually her third choice," Fleur said in an annoyed tone, but the waiter had already walked off.

"No wonder this place is the only café without a line out the door," Fleur muttered, placing her menu down.

"You're in a bit of a mood all of a sudden," Hermione said, cocking an eyebrow.

"I am not."

"Are too."

Fleur picked up her teacup and took a slow sip, wrinkling her nose at the taste.

"Man, the world is just against you today," Hermione teased further. "Come on, are you having a good time?"

"Of course I am," Fleur replied, setting the teacup down and pushing it away from her. "It is just… that girl that was staring at us outside, she is one of Tess' friends. I did not like the look she gave us."

Hermione's smile quickly dropped off her face.

"Oh," Hermione said, reaching for her own teacup to have something to do with her hands. She brought it to her lips and took a sip, recoiling slightly as the sour taste of lemon hit her throat.

"It was not in a homophobic way," Fleur added quickly, "more in an accusatory way. Like she thought I was doing something sneaky."

"Why would she think that?"

"I do not know."

Fleur sighed and rubbed the lace from the tablecloth between her fingers.

"I have made it clear to Tess that we are just friends, but this has… happened before."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you the first time I introduced you to Tess that we have known each other for a long time," Fleur continued. "We met when my family moved back to France after Amandine was expelled from Durmstrang. Her family were our new neighbours and were very welcoming, considering the fact they knew what Amandine had done."

"Starting the group of Grindelwald sympathisers?" Hermione asked, and Fleur nodded.

"That is the tip of the iceberg, but yes. Word had spread to France by then that Amandine had been involved in that group and that a student was killed as a consequence. The media was unrelenting and constantly published stories about how our whole family must hold similar views. It did not help that Amandine continued to spew hate speech to anyone who would listen. We were rejected by everyone. Old friends stopped speaking to us, my parents had trouble finding work, and the media were constantly on our doorstep sniffing for a story."

"Oh wow," Hermione breathed, "that sounds horrible."

Fleur nodded.

"It was. We barely left our house and my mother home-schooled me to try and keep me out of the spotlight. Everyone was saying, if the oldest sibling is bad, imagine what the next one will be like."

"How old were you at this point?"

"Eight."

"Fuuuuck," Hermione said slowly.

Suddenly, the waiter appeared next to them.

"Ready to order?" he said, holding his notebook in front of him with a pen poised.

The girls stared at him as he lazily chewed his gum, like a cow munching on grass.

"No," Fleur finally said, "and you gave us the wrong tea."

"Huh," the waiter replied and proceeded to walk to the next table.

Fleur glared at him, and Hermione leant forward, touching her forearm to get her attention again.

"So, how does Tess come into this?" Hermione asked, not moving her hand from Fleur's arm.

"Well, like I said, no one would speak to us," Fleur continued, taking her eyes off the waiter and focusing back on Hermione. "Then, one day, Tess and her family invited us around for dinner. I think it was out of pity, but we appreciated it all the same. Tess and I flew around on her toy broomsticks the whole night. I fell off the broom and cut open my face, I still have a small scar from it."

Fleur pointed to the faded line near her lips. It was the same line that Hermione had noticed on multiple occasions, the one that became prominent whenever Fleur smiled.

"I've noticed that scar before," Hermione said.

"It is ugly."

"No, it's one of my favourite parts of you. It only ever becomes easier to see when you genuinely smile."

Fleur tried to hide her corresponding smile, but the little scar stuck out more than ever.

"Yes, well, anyway," Fleur continued, brushing her thumb along the scar, "after that night we became best friends. We spent every moment possible together. She was educated at a Muggle primary school, but she would always come over every afternoon to play. We used to steal my mother's wand and pretend we were on a quest to save the world from Grindelwald."

Fleur smiled slightly at the memory.

"We were inseparable. Her father was on a long-term contract to work for the French Ministry, but we were unsure whether she would be admitted into Beauxbaton's or have to fly back to America to go to Ilvermorny. I remember the day she received her Beauxbaton's acceptance letter so clearly. She came running over to our house immediately, and we cried with happiness. We hugged each other so tightly… and then she kissed me."

Hermione felt a twinge of jealousy in her stomach.

"I'm sure that was quite a… surreal moment for you both," Hermione said, grappling to find the right words. Fleur nodded.

"It only lasted a moment, but… it happened. We both said it must have been the excitement of the moment and did not talk about it again. I think I always knew she meant more by it, but I did not want to complicate our friendship. It was too important to me. It _is _too important to me."

Fleur stroked the top of Hermione's hand gently.

"We started at Beauxbaton's together and clung to each other like glue. I was very shy back then, so she would defend me whenever anyone made comments about my family or my sister. Once, she hexed a boys mouth shut, and the Professors were so impressed with the spell work that they did not even give her detention. Eventually, I proved that I was not going to be a clone of my sister, and I found my own friend group. We still remained close, though. We were both the top of our year and enjoyed learning and challenging each other to always be better. Then, in our fourth year, we became… closer."

Hermione cleared her throat. Fleur paused and took a sip of tea, scrunching her nose to the taste once again.

"Fuck, I forgot that is disgusting," Fleur said, pushing the cup away.

"Just tell me what happened next," Hermione sighed, wanting it to be over and done with as fast as possible. Fleur began to lightly brush the top of her fingertips with her own.

"Well, we started to sleep together," Fleur said, speaking quickly as if she were spitting the words out. "It lasted for six months. We were never actually together, though. Well, I did not think we were."

"Let me guess she didn't agree?"

"By "didn't agree" do you mean did she hex me in front of the whole school at breakfast when she found out I had asked another girl on a date? Because then the answer would be yes."

Hermione frowned as Fleur continued to absentmindedly play with the tips of her fingers.

"Did you tell her that you just wanted to keep it casual?" Hermione asked.

"In a sense."

"That doesn't mean yes."

Fleur sighed.

"I did not think we needed to label it. I had just realised my attraction to women, and she had too, so we agreed we would experiment. We felt safe and comfortable together, so it made sense to have our first times with each other."

Fleur blushed slightly at the last statement, and Hermione felt another wave of hot jealousy wash over her.

"Anyway, after she hexed me, we did not speak properly for weeks. It was excruciating. We shared most of our classes together, and the teachers would constantly try to get us to compete like we had so happily done previously. It only made things worse. We had duelling practice in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and we were paired together. The duel became so intense that she ended up blasting me into a wall and gave me a concussion. As you have witnessed, duelling is not my strong suit."

Fleur smiled self-consciously and shrunk slightly in her seat. Hermione turned her hand over and intertwined their fingers.

"What happened next?" Hermione asked softly. Fleur swallowed.

"One day soon after, my parents sent me an owl saying that Tess' father had been transferred back to the American Congress and they would be leaving within a couple of weeks. We may not have been speaking, but she was still very special to me, and so I bypassed my pride and apologised. She accepted, and we tried to repair the friendship we had but… it was never the same. When we said goodbye, we both agreed that the distance would probably be best to help us heal. We would send occasional owls to each other, but the first night we arrived at Hogwarts was the first time I had seen her in about two years."

Hermione thought back to that night and remembered watching Fleur and Tess squealing and hugging in the Great Hall.

"Do you think the distance helped?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Even though I had apologised, I did not believe I did anything wrong, and I think she knew that. She needed time to get over her feelings for me before we could ever be friends again."

"Do you think it worked?"

"I thought so, yes. The first few weeks we were at Hogwarts, it was just like old times. We were inseparable once again."

Fleur gazed into the distance, watching as their water spilt scalding tea into Susan Bones' lap. She squealed and leapt to her feet, swearing profusely.

"Do you… have feelings for her?" Hermione asked after a few moments.

Fleur snapped her attention back to Hermione.

"You keep asking me this, and I have told you, I do not," she replied in an irritated tone. "I have never felt that way about her, and she knows that. I only see her as a friend."

"Do you think she has feelings for you?"

Fleur paused.

"I would be lying if I said no. But after what happened the other night at the party… well, I told her that I did not feel that way about her and that it could not happen again. She seemed to understand."

"Seemed to?"

"She seemed to understand last time I said that to her too and then next minute, I am getting hexed."

They fell into silence.

The waiter slunk over once again, and Hermione quickly pulled her hand away from Fleur's. He was carrying a plate with a slice of carrot cake on it and placed it in front of Fleur. The plate clattered loudly as it touched the table. He began to walk away.

"Wait, I did not order this!" Fleur shouted after him, causing people at the table next to them to look over curiously.

"It's a gift from that fella," the waiter replied, jerking his thumb to a table in the far corner. Hermione and Fleur both looked and made eye contact with Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. He raised his hand in a stationary wave, staring intently at Fleur.

He beckoned her to his table, and Hermione turned back around quickly. She made a mental note to tell Harry to knock Roger off his broom the next time Gryffindor played Ravenclaw.

Fleur scoffed and pushed the plate toward Hermione.

"Wow, is he in for a surprise," Fleur said. "I hate carrot cake, you eat it."

Hermione glanced at the cake but suddenly had no appetite.

"You have a lot of admirer's," Hermione said, keeping her tone as light as she could.

"It is all superficial," Fleur replied. "Most people I meet do not listen to me when I talk, they just agree with everything I say. That is what so drew me to you."

"What do you mean?"

Fleur rested her elbow on the table, leaning her chin on her hand and observing Hermione.

"The first day we met in Charms, we had a proper conversation. You were solid in your beliefs, and you treated me like anyone else. You challenged me and even corrected my wand work, do you remember? I cannot remember the last time someone told me I was wrong."

Hermione let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, I'm kinda known for correcting people's wand work. Ask Ron about the "swish and flick" incident in our first year," she said shyly.

"Well, you had me enchanted from that moment onward," Fleur replied, lifting her finger from her chin and tracing it along her lips lightly.

Hermione felt herself get rather hot.

"Plus, you have many admirers too. That is why I got so frustrated when I did not know how you felt about me. I knew there was a line of people waiting to snap you up if you gave them a chance," Fleur finished.

Hermione scoffed.

"I don't have admirers."

"You are kidding, right?"

"I don't!"

Fleur tutted loudly.

"Do you know how manypeople have come up to me asking if we are together because they wanted to ask you out?" Fleur said incredulously.

"And what did you say to them?"

Fleur bit her tongue between her teeth.

"I said that I had heard you were dating a famous Quidditch player from Finland."

Hermione laughed, shaking her head at the ridiculous lie.

"The people asking me were not worth your time!" Fleur countered, unable to stop a smile spreading across her face too. "For example, Cobus has been pestering me about you for the past two weeks! He is such an idiot, I cannot believe he thinks he would ever have a chance with you."

Hermione frowned.

"Who's Cobus?" she asked.

Now it was Fleur's turn to laugh.

"Hermione, he is the boy you sit next to in Charms!"

"Oh!" Hermione said, putting her face in her hands. "I've been calling him Corbin for the past two weeks!"

Fleur laughed even harder and people in the surrounding tables glanced at them. The waiter was standing at the counter, watching them, still chewing his gum slowly.

"We can't even communicate though, he doesn't speak English very well, and I can't speak French," Hermione continued, smiling at the absurdity of the situation.

Fleur's laughter slowly died, and she wiped her eyes with her napkin.

"What do you mean?" Fleur asked, still chuckling. "Cobus is fluent in English."

"No, he's not?"

"Yes, he is, just like every other Beauxbaton's student. We have pupils from all parts of Europe attend our school, so courses are taught in both English and French to accommodate."

"So that's why you speak it so well?"

"Well, no. We always had staff that lived with us when I grew up, and they all taught me English. Plus, Tess was not great at French, so we would speak in English. It has always surrounded me."

"So, maybe Cobus just hasn't had the exposure you did?"

"You are sweet to think the best of people," Fleur said endearingly. "But, Cobus' father is the French Ambassador at the British Ministry. I guarantee that he grew up bilingual.

Hermione's bit the inside of her cheek.

"But… but he's _always _asking me for extra help. He never stops talking to me. He requested private English lessons the other day…" Hermione's voice trailed off as realisation crept in.

Fleur smiled affectionately. She reached forward and stroked Hermione's cheek lightly, tracing along her now very faint scar.

"How is it possible for someone to be so cute?" Fleur mused. "Though… I do not blame him for using tricky tactics to get your attention because, well, I _may _have done something similar…"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, really?"

Fleur bit her lip slightly, trying to stop the smile creeping onto her face.

"Do you remember the first time we spoke to each other?"

"Yeah, in Charms?"

"No,the _first _time."

Hermione frowned as she tried to think back, but she was drawing a blank.

"It was in the corridor…" Fleur said, trying to jog Hermione's memory.

"Oh, yeah, I remember! My bag had just split, and I was picking everything up, and you came up to me and said you couldn't find the classroom."

"Yes," Fleur said slowly. "Well, you see the thing is… I _may _have shot a spell at your bag to make it split on purpose."

Hermione's mouth dropped open.

"What!"

"I wanted to speak to you alone, and you were walking with Harry and Ron! I had heard that Professor Flitwick was pairing up students from foreign schools in his class, and I wanted to make sure I got to sit with you," Fleur replied defensively.

Hermione couldn't stop herself from shaking her head

"You didn't even know me at that point," Hermione laughed.

"I had heard enough about how brilliant you were to realise that I needed to get to know you."

"So you ruined my bag?"

"It was a necessary sacrifice."

"That's my favourite bag, Fleur!" Hermione exclaimed in mock-anger. "It's never been the same since!"

"_You_ are ridiculous."

"_You_ owe me a new bag!"

Fleur scrunched her nose affectionately as the waiter came striding toward their table, notepad at the ready.

"We will just order-," Fleur began, but the waiter cut her off.

"You two are in the Tournament, ain't ya?" he said, looking at them properly for the first time that day.

"Oh, yes we are," Fleur said, slightly caught off guard.

"Can I get your autographs?"

He held the notepad out to them. Fleur and Hermione eyed it.

"Erm, we aren't celebrities," Hermione said quickly. "That piece of paper will become pretty useless the moment the Tournament ends."

The waiter shrugged.

"Depends on the winner though, dunnit? I could sell the autograph and make a bit of money if it was one of you two. Who do you reckon is the most likely?" the waiter asked.

"Her," Fleur and Hermione said at the same time, pointing at each other.

"See, I thought it would be Diggory," the waiter said, pocketing the notebook and scratching his chin with his quill. It left an ink smear near his lip.

"Just 'cos he has connections, yinno? His grandad is a big dog, ruthless fella. My Great Uncle Marcus worked for the American Congress years ago, and he met him once and tried to challenge his anti-Muggle views. Well, the next day, he got a call to pack up his office and find a new job."

The waiter shook his head.

"So when the grandson Diggory got selected as champion, well, he was the favourite by a long shot. I went down to The Goblin's Grotto, that's me favourite gambling spot, and chucked a couple galleons on him to clean up in the first task. No offence, ladies."

"None taken," Fleur said, eyeing him with amusement.

"So then when he didn't even get the egg, well, he proved that he's just a pretty face. I can't imagine what his grandad woulda said. Especially having lost to a Muggleborn and a Veela. No offence."

"A little taken," Fleur said pointedly. The waiter cackled, under the impression Fleur was joking.

"You know what?" the waiter continued. "I'm gonna head down to The Goblin's Grotto after me shift and put all me money on you to win. I was saving to buy a shack in Ottery St Catchpole, but with an attitude like yours, I reckon it's a safe bet that you got this one in the bag. With the odds they're giving on you at the moment, I'd win enough for a decent place in London."

"No, no, do not do that," Fleur replied quickly, but the waiter was already walking away.

"Wait, can we order something?" Hermione called after him, her stomach grumbling.

He shook his head and yelled back, "Kitchen's closed, sorry love."

Hermione scowled.

"What an interesting character he is," Fleur said, watching his retreating back.

Roger Davies walked past their table at that moment, glancing begrudgingly at Fleur and the untouched carrot cake on their table. Fleur didn't notice him.

The café had emptied substantially, dirty abandoned tea cups littering the tables around them. The rest of the wait staff were circulating the café slowly, straightening out tablecloths and collecting the left behind tips.

The light coming through the windows had started to dim as the sun set slowly behind the buildings of Hogsmeade. Hermione glanced down at her watch.

"Oh shit, I said I'd meet Harry at the Three Broomsticks at four," Hermione exclaimed, pulling her coat on and zipping it up. "He'll be waiting for me. Do you want to come along?"  
"Will he mind?" Fleur asked, buttoning her own jacket.

"Of course not, come on."

Fleur reached into her pocket and put two galleons on the table as they stood.

"That's way too much, the tea only costs ten sickles," Hermione protested.

"If he is putting a bet on me winning the Tournament, he'll need the extra money," Fleur replied. She touched Hermione's lower back lightly as they exited the café, the bell on the door tinkling as they walked out.

The frigid wind whipped more fiercely than before, causing both girls to wrap their coats tighter around themselves.

Fleur flicked her wand, and the wind stopped immediately as they became shrouded in the air bubble once again.

"How do you do that?" Hermione asked, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"You want to steal my trick?" Fleur teased.

"Well, yeah, obviously."

Fleur smiled. She flicked her wand, and the bubble disappeared, letting the freezing wind tear past them once again. Fleur leant in close to Hermione's ear.

"Think of the area you want the bubble to reach and visualise the space you will fill in it," Fleur said, pocketing her wand and returning her hand gently to Hermione's lower back. "Then flick your wand upwards sharply and use the incantation, _Bullasphaera_."

Hermione nodded and tried to focus. She was very aware of Fleur's fingers lightly stroking her back, and it kept pulling her attention away from her task.

"_Bullasphaera_," Hermione said and flicked her wand. The wind around them died down, though a slight breeze still ruffled their hair.

"Not bad for your first attempt," Fleur said genuinely.

Hermione frowned.

She focused again, visualising the space they occupied. She saw a stray pebble on the ground and concentrated on making that the border of the bubble.

"_Bullasphaera," _Hermione said again. The wind stopped around them completely. Fleur beamed at her.

"You are cute when you get competitive," Fleur whispered into her air, placing a light kiss on Hermione's cheek.

Hermione turned toward her slightly.

"I like this," Hermione murmured, gesturing at the space the bubble took up. "It's like we're in our own little world."

"That it is," Fleur replied, stroking her nose lightly against Hermione's cheek.

"Well, look who it is!"

Fleur and Hermione jumped apart as if they had been electrocuted.

Rita Skeeter was striding toward them, her arms opened wide. She wore robes of turquoise blue, and her hair was in tight ringlets that flew behind her in the wind. She had sharply manicured pink nails, and a crocodile handbag slung over her shoulder loosely.

"What do you want?" Fleur said coldly. Skeeter placed her hand on her chest, mouth open in mock-horror.

"Why, you aren't pleased to see me?" Skeeter replied. She was now so close that she bumped into the bubble, jumping backwards in alarm.

"Oh, this is quite the trick," Skeeter mused, looking impressed as she reached forward to tap the invisible barrier.

"We're actually on our way to meet someone," Hermione said and began to walk away.

"Who?"

"None of your business," Fleur snapped.

Skeeter's eyes flashed.

"You two were looking quite cosy just before," Skeeter said, a mischievous smile stretching across her face. "Care to do an interview? Our subscribers would be thrilled to hear about a champions love story. Oh, the headlines it would cause!"

Hermione's stomach sunk as Fleur bristled beside her.

"There is no story to tell," Fleur growled. "Now, leave us alone."

They began to walk away quickly, making sure to keep a small distance from each other.

"Once I have the evidence, you can't stop me from printing what I want!" Skeeter called after them.

"She is a curse on this earth," Fleur said, shaking her head. Hermione didn't reply.

They didn't speak as they walked along the lane. It was a lot less crowded now, and dim lights were flickering to life along the street. Many of the stall owners had packed up for the night, though the remaining ones called out to the girls to offer last minute discounts on their shoddy merchandise.

The Three Broomsticks was still quite busy as they approached it, though they managed to squeeze inside.

Hermione immediately spotted Harry at a table and waved at him. They shuffled past other students until they reached him. He was drinking a Butterbeer with a full one sat next to him.

"Hey," Harry said, beaming at them. "I didn't realise you'd be coming, Fleur. Have a seat, I'll go grab you a drink."

Fleur rummaged in her pocket and tried to hand him some coins, but he waved it away.

"Nah, my shout tonight," he said and began to squeeze his way through the crowd.

Hermione and Fleur sat down, pulling their stools in close to the table.

"It is too crowded in here," Fleur said loudly, trying to speak over the din.

"It's always like this," Hermione replied. "And with the ball so close, everyone will be out shopping for their outfit."

"Speaking of which," Fleur said, fiddling with the bracelets on her wrist. "I have to ask you something."

Hermione sighed.

"I already said I'm not ready for that, Fleur."

"It is not that."

Fleur licked her lips.

"Madame Maxime told me I have to go with someone, even though I do not want to."

"You'll have no problem finding someone."

"Yes, but I want to go with someone I trust, and unfortunately that cancels out a lot of people. There were a few girls I am friends with at Beauxbaton's that could have worked, but they have already found partners. I waited because I thought…"

Hermione bit her lip.

"Because you thought we would go together," Hermione said, finishing Fleur's sentence. Fleur smiled sadly.

"Well, anyway, then I considered asking Cedric because he has been a good friend to me. He often helps me in Herbology with the stupid plants that try to attack me. But, I heard he has already asked someone. So, there is only one person I truly trust left…"

Fleur trailed off, and Hermione knew what she was insinuating. She scratched her nose lightly and glanced around the pub.

"You want to take Tess," Hermione said, not meeting Fleur's eye as she watched an Ilvermorny boy chatting excitedly with Parvati Patil.

"No, I _want _to take _you_," Fleur said quickly. "But you are not ready. She is the only person left I feel comfortable going with."

"That's quite a situation to put me in, Fleur. I'm not comfortable going with you to the ball, so you go with someone who has a history of liking you?"

"This is not a punishment if that is what you are insinuating," Fleur replied, sounding hurt. "You have seen the way people act around me in a normal environment. I do not want to put myself in a vulnerable position with someone I do not trust. Everyone will be watching us at the ball, and I do not want to take the chance of my partner doing something I do not like and causing a scene. I know that Tess will not try to do anything if I make it clear that I am asking as a friend."

"Is there really no one else?" Hermione said, not believing that Tess could genuinely be the only option. The Ilvermorny boy and Parvati were now kissing, and Hermione tore her gaze away.

"How would you feel about going to the ball with someone you hardly know? With someone whose intentions you are not entirely sure of?" Fleur replied, frowning slightly.

Hermione imagined going with someone like Cobus or Mikhail and had to suppress a shudder. She decided to ignore Fleur's question.

"And you're sure that Tess' intentions won't be anything more than just friendship?" Hermione replied.

"I have spoken with her about it, I told you this-,"

"Yeah, and you also told me that you think that she still probably has feelings for you."

"But I do not have feelings for her, so I would never let anything happen!"

"I don't trust her!"

"Do you trust me?"

Hermione sighed.

"Of course I do," Hermione replied after a moment. "But it doesn't mean I like it."

"If you are not comfortable with it, I will not do it," Fleur said, and Hermione felt Fleur's hand touch her thigh lightly. "I can find someone else."

Hermione paused and then reached under the table to intertwine their fingers.

"I understand your reasoning," Hermione replied, "I don't want to go with someone I don't trust either. It's just, I think you're putting too must faith in how you think she'll act. No doubt, there's going to be alcohol there, and everyone's has certain expectations about how the night will go…"

"What expectations?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Like that," she said, pointing at the Ilvermorny boy and Parvati, who were now holding hands and pushing their way through the crowd to leave together.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

Fleur squeezed Hermione's hand gently.

"I grew up with Tess, and she has never once tried to do anything that I was uncomfortable with. I know her. She is a good person. She will not try anything."

"That doesn't stop me from being jealous," Hermione muttered.

Fleur smiled, and her Veela glow began to radiate softly from her.

"You have nothing to be jealous about, my eyes are only ever on you."

Harry suddenly appeared in front of them, holding a bottle of Butterbeer with liquid spilled down the side. Fleur slowly withdrew her hand from Hermione's.

"Sorry Fleur, I spilt it on the way over. This crowd is nuts," Harry said, placing the drink in front of her. He stopped and stared at Fleur, suddenly transfixed, his mouth slightly agape.

Fleur frowned slightly and glanced at Hermione.

"You have your Veela glow on," Hermione said, laughing slightly at the expression on Harry's face.

"Oh! I did not notice," Fleur replied blushing. The glow immediately stopped, and Harry blinked quickly.

"Back on earth with us?" Hermione teased, and Harry laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, mate, just… wasn't expecting it," Harry stammered. Fleur waved her hand.

"It happens all the time, do not be embarrassed. It is the Veela in me," she said, taking a sip of the frothing Butterbeer.

"I didn't know what that was until we went to the Quidditch World Cup two years ago," Harry replied. "Some Veela girls were selling merchandise, and I nearly bought the whole damn stock."

Hermione and Fleur laughed.

"So, you were raised in the Muggle world, too?" Fleur asked.

"Yep. Didn't know I was a wizard until Hagrid came ploughing through our door on my birthday."

"Is that how it happens for everyone at Hogwarts?" Fleur questioned.

"No, Harry is just a bit special," Hermione replied, scrunching her nose in Harry's direction to annoy him.

"How did you find out you were a witch?"

"Professor McGonagall came to my house," Hermione answered, taking a sip of her Butterbeer. "At first, my dad wouldn't let her in because he thought she was trying to sell him something."

Fleur and Harry laughed.

"She sat my parents and me down and said I was a witch. My parents are both dentists so you can imagine what they thought of _that _statement. My dad actually asked her to leave. Then she turned our teapot into a gerbil and suddenly he was asking her to stay for dinner."

"And how did you take it?" Fleur asked

Hermione paused, tilting her head to try to remember.

"Pretty well," she finally said. "I mean, I had accidentally performed magic all my life, but I always thought there must have been a logical explanation for it. In a way, I always knew that I was magic, I just never admitted it to myself."

"That can happen with a lot of things," Fleur replied. "Sometimes we are not ready to believe certain parts of ourselves, even if deep down we know it is who we truly are."

Fleur looked at Hermione pointedly, who quickly took a large gulp of her drink.

The three of them continued to chat amicably for the next hour, sharing stories about their pasts as the pub continued to fill around them. The atmosphere was thick with laughter, and the clinking of glasses as people from all walks of life mingled. A fire blazed intensely in the corner, though the pub remained the perfect temperature.

Some wizards sat at a table near them, debating furiously in Greek. A group of fashionably dressed witches sat opposite them, several empty bottles of elf-made wine in front of them, laughing hysterically at a picture of a Hippogriff wearing pants.

Many of the teachers had entered together at one point, all in intense discussion about a variety of topics. Hermione caught snippets of some of their conversations; McGonagall and Fontaine were debating the regulation of magic carpets in Papua New Guinea, whereas Sprout and Dumbledore were musing over whether adding Mandrake roots to Essence of Murtlap would increase its healing properties.

The large clock on the wall chimed loudly, catching Fleur's attention. She sighed.

"I have to go, I have _another _meeting with Madame Maxime," she said, smiling apologetically at Harry and Hermione. She stood up and buttoned her coat. "I will see you later?"

They nodded and, with a final glance at Hermione, she disappeared into the crowd.

"She's really cool," Harry said, watching the space where she had just been. "We got the wrong impression of her at first."

"I told you guys that," Hermione replied. "She's brilliant, too, the magic she can do is incredible. And she's funny as well, and obviously attractive, and…"

Hermione trailed off and began to scratch at the label on her bottle. To Harry's credit, he didn't tease her.

"Yeah, well, I think she's great, Hermione. You two seem to really… get along."

Hermione glanced at him for a moment before returning to scratching at her bottle.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"  
"Do you want to go to the ball with me?"

Harry's eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.

"You don't really want to go with me," he said, laughing slightly.

"Well, no, not really, but I have to go with someone, and you're one of my best friends. You mentioned at breakfast awhile ago to go with someone that I can stand spending an entire night with, and you're one of the only people who tick that box."

Harry smiled and punched her on the shoulder playfully.

"Ow!" Hermione exclaimed, rubbing the spot where the shot landed.

"That didn't hurt!"

"Yes, it did!"

"I'm a fucking terrible dancer."

"So am I."

"We're going to make fools of ourselves, aren't we?"

"Absolutely."

Harry laughed and finished his bottle of Butterbeer.

"Alright, I'll go with you," he said, placing the bottle on the table with a clunk. "But on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You get the next round."

Hermione grinned and reached into her pocket for her wallet.

o-o-o-o-o-o

**A/N: There it is! What do you all think? Surely Tess and Fleur going to the ball together will go off without a hitch… right?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Damn, it's been a minute! Life has been crazy recently and I haven't had the time to write much and then all of a sudden it had been a month. I tried to make it up to you by giving you a looooong chapter. Like seriously, this chapter is nearly double the length of some of the others. And I think you guys won't be disappointed ;)**

**It was great to finally get this chapter done as I have been planning it for awhile. The angst is about to ramp up to a whooooole 'nother level…**

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

Hermione blasted some snow from the ground and sat down at the base of her favourite Beech tree, watching Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna engage in a snow fight in the near distance. Ginny was by far the best at bewitching the snowballs and had enchanted multiple to hit Ron heavily in the face. Luna had lost interest in the battle quickly and had begun to build an oddly proportioned snowman.

It was the day of the Yule Ball, and Hermione couldn't have been more pleased that it would soon be over.

The news that Hermione Granger was taking Harry Potter to the ball had circulated like wildfire around the schools, with many students showing their evident excitement at the news. They couldn't walk the halls together without students whispering loudly as they passed and throwing furtive looks at how close they stood to each other.

Both Harry and Hermione despised the attention and had grown sick of telling everyone they were just friends. Ernie had pestered them for ten minutes in Defence Against the Dark Arts about how he knew they were soulmates from the day he met them.

The gossip mill had amped up another notch when Tess confirmed to a classmate in Charms that she and Fleur were going to the ball together. The unexpected twist that Hermione and Fleur were going with other partners had created a frenzy of gossip within the castle and Hermione hated every minute of it.

To add to her dismay, she and Fleur had hardly seen each other in the lead up to the Yule Ball. Fleur constantly had to attend evening meetings in the Beauxbaton's carriage, always apologising profusely to Hermione when she had to reject an offer to spend time together because of it. On the odd occasion when Fleur was free, Hermione often had Prefect duties or a mountain of homework to complete.

Whenever the girls passed in the corridor, they would steal a conversation, but they were always rushed and never held much substance.

A few times, Hermione had noticed Harry and Fleur having conversations which they abruptly stopped when Hermione approached. She was glad that since the Hogsmeade visit they had become friends, but it irked her slightly that they were not clueing her in on what they were talking about.

To top it off the terrible week, she had also had no luck with the egg.

She had tried talking to it, screaming louder than it, asking it questions, throwing it against the wall; all were fruitless. She had spent countless hours researching the properties of the gold that made up the egg to see if there would be a clue, but it had proven pointless. She had a brainwave that it could be a Banshee scream and had rushed to the library to double-check, only to be disappointed when she discovered the tonality to the screeching was totally different.

Harry had suggested she just toss it into the lake and forget about it and she was starting to think that wasn't a half-bad idea.

Hermione watched as Ginny cracked another perfectly crafted snowball into Harry's face, knocking his glasses clean off his head.

Hermione had declined to participate in the battle, keeping one eye on the Beauxbaton's carriage instead. For once, Fleur didn't have a meeting to go to, and Hermione had jumped on the opportunity to invite her to hang out. It wouldn't be for long, but it was something.

Hermione's eyes lit up as the door of the carriage swung open. Her heart beat slightly faster as Fleur emerged; a dark blue scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. She waved a gloved hand at Hermione and began to trudge through the snow toward her.

Harry bewitched a snowball to fly toward Fleur, which she redirected to hit Neville with a flick of her wand. Harry was too busy laughing to notice the large mound of snow Fleur had wordlessly charmed to hover over his head, letting out a shout of surprise as it fell on him and covered his entire body with a soft _whump_.

"Nice trick," Hermione said, smiling widely as Fleur drew close to her.

"He is cheeky," Fleur replied, sitting down next to Hermione. "I have a treatment in my hair right now that would have been ruined if that snowball hit me. He is lucky I did not do a more aggressive charm."

Fleur rubbed her hands together quickly and let out a slow breath, steam curling out of her mouth as she exhaled.

"It is so fucking cold," Fleur grumbled. "Why did it have to snow today?"

"The ball's inside anyway," Hermione replied. "Doesn't really matter what the weather is like, does it?"

Fleur merely shrugged and watched the snow fight in front of her. Ron had slipped over on a large chunk of ice, causing the rest of the group to be in hysterics.

"Are you excited about tonight?" Hermione asked.

"It will be a fun night, I am sure," Fleur replied, meeting Hermione's eye and smiling slightly.

"I'm dreading it. The thought of dancing in front of everyone…"

"You will be fine."

Fleur reached over and gave Hermione's hand a gentle squeeze. Hermione linked their fingers together and held their hands against the side of her leg.

"Oh, I've got something for you," Hermione said, digging into her pocket. She withdrew a galleon and handed it to Fleur.

"Um, thank you?" Fleur said, looking at her quizzically.

"It's not real money," Hermione said quickly. "Last year, we used them to communicate when our next meeting was for this group we formed. I have the master one that can change the text on the coin, and I enchanted this one to be able to do it too. No one will be using them anymore because the group disbanded, so… so I thought we could use them."

Hermione blushed slightly.

"It's just easier to plan when we can hang out rather than having to chase each other around the castle" she continued quickly. "Plus, it means we can communicate with each other once we go on Christmas holidays tomorrow. If you think it's stupid-"

Hermione fell silent as Fleur beamed at her.

"You impress me more and more every day, Hermione," she said gently, pocketing the coin. "I think it's a wonderful idea. Was this the group that Harry was the teacher of?"

"Yeah."

Fleur nodded.

"He is a decent man," she mused.

"You two seemed to have got to know each other a bit better recently."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not at all," Hermione said, tightening her grip on Fleur's hand. "I just don't like when you guys don't tell me what you're talking about."

"Just a bit of this, a bit of that."

Hermione rolled her eyes as they fell into silence. Fleur stroked Hermione's thumb slightly with her own, as Neville landed an expertly thrown snowball to the side of Ginny's head.

"I wish I was brave enough to go to the ball with you," Hermione murmured. "Hearing everyone talk about you and Tess going together… it's been driving me nuts."

Fleur scooted closer, so their legs were touching, the snow around them melting slowly from their body heat.

"I know how you feel," Fleur replied softly. "All I have heard the past few days is how excited everyone is that you and Harry are together. I nearly hexed Viktor when he called you "The Chosen Couple."

Hermione laughed.

"Who knew Viktor was such a gossip?" Hermione mused.

"Yes, well, I do not like hearing how much everyone likes you two together. It makes me…"

Fleur trailed off.

"Me too," Hermione replied gently.

They watched as Cedric emerged from the Ilvermorny truck, rubbing his hands together and bobbing on the spot. He spied the snow-fighting group and began to run toward them. Bending low, he scooped up some snow, leapt into the air, and pelted Ginny square in the nose with a perfectly crafted snowball. His shriek of laughter reached their ears as Ginny bewitched the head of Luna's snowman to smash into Cedric's face.

"He is ridiculous," Fleur said, amusement laced in her voice. "Though he is very kind. When he won the role of the champion over Tess, he offered to involve her in all parts of his preparation for each task, to act as a kind of mentor. She never stops talking about him."

"She does," Hermione replied, "so that she can talk about you."

Hermione thought back to her previous Potions lesson, where Tess had been describing how Fleur had asked her to the ball. She had a smirk on her face as she explained every detail, her eyes flicking toward Hermione regularly.

Fleur had told Hermione that she had asked Tess on their walk to Herbology in a completely non-chalent manner; heavily emphasising it was just as friends.

Tess, however, explained to the entire class a scene that sounded nothing short of a romantic movie. She detailed what trees they walked by, the temperature, what she was wearing, the way Fleur looked deep into her eyes as she asked. Hermione had been gripping her quill so hard as she listened that it had snapped clean in two.

"She is just excited," Fleur replied. "Everyone is. It is the first time they get to participate in something to do with the Tournament."

"Yeah, well, she could at least pretend that the ball is the reason she hasn't been able to stop smiling all week," Hermione grumbled. "And would you look at that, speak of the devil and the devil will come."

The doors of the Ilvermorny truck had been flung open for a second time as Tess stepped out. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and she swept the stray strands from her forehead as she stepped onto the ground. She wore tight leggings, a black hoodie, black sunglasses, and snow boots. Hermione hated the fact she seemed to make any outfit look good.

"Be nice," Fleur said, squeezing Hermione's hand as Tess began to walk over. "She is my best friend, I want you two to get along."

"I'll let you know how I feel about her after we see if she tries to do anything tonight," Hermione retorted.

"You know, she has not actually done anything to you," Fleur replied. "I am the one who asked her to the ball."

"Let's not get into this again," Hermione sighed.

Cedric had spied Tess walking along the grounds, completely oblivious to the snow-fight happening next to her. An evil grin spread across his face as he hurled an unnaturally large snowball in her direction. It splattered on the side of her face, drenching her hair and dripping down her hoodie.

Tess froze, her hands splayed, mouth dropped open in shock.

Cedric howled with laughter, sprinting back toward their truck as she reached for her wand.

"My fucking _hair_, Ced!" Tess roared, hurling spell after spell after him as he zig-zagged across the grounds. She turned toward Hermione and Fleur, who were still a distance away from her.

"Come on, flower," she yelled. "Let's get ready. I need more time now that asshole has ruined my hair."

Tess ran back toward the Ilvermorny truck, shooting another spell at Cedric as he disappeared inside the eighteen-wheeler.

"Flower, even?" Hermione said, her eyebrows raised as she looked at Fleur.

"She has called me that since we were little," Fleur said, giving Hermione a warning look. "It is just a joke."

"A real clown, our Tess," Hermione replied sarcastically.

Fleur tilted her head and let go of Hermione's hand. She leant in close, so their lips were only inches apart, placing her thumb lightly under Hermione's chin. Hermione took a sharp intake of breath at their sudden proximity.

"I am going to go and get ready now," Fleur whispered, dropping her gaze to Hermione's lips. "And I want you to stop making up stories about what you think Tess is going to do to me tonight, and instead think about what _I _want to do to _you _instead."

If Fleur wasn't holding Hermione's chin, her mouth would've dropped open.

Fleur's eyes flicked back up to meet Hermione's, her stare so piercing that Hermione felt like she was being put into a trance.

"And what would that involve?" Hermione finally said, her mouth feeling very dry.

"If I told you that, you would not stop blushing for weeks."

Fleur leant forward, mere inches separating their lips now. She brought her thumb up and traced it softly along Hermione's lower lip. Hermione instinctively closed her eyes and leant forward slightly.

She jumped as Fleur's voice was suddenly in her ear, not expecting the sudden change of position.

"I have something special planned for tonight," Fleur whispered, causing goosebumps to ripple across Hermione's neck.

"What is it?"

"I am not saying. You will just know that you have something to look forward to. I cannot wait to see you all dressed up. I do not know how I will keep my hands off you."

With that, Fleur kissed her on the cheek and stood.

She brushed some flecks of snow off of her robes and strode toward the Ilvermorny truck, holding her wand in front of her to melt the snow as she walked.

Hermione sat frozen for a few moments, her brain slowly ticking back into action.

She watched as Fleur reached the truck, the door being flung open by Tess before she had even knocked. They hugged briefly and began talking animatedly.

Hermione tore her eyes away and stood, her muscles stiff from sitting for so long.

Folding her arms tightly across her body for warmth, she began to walk toward the castle. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that the snowball that smashed into her head made her lose balance and fall into a deep trench of snow.

The sooner this day was over, the better.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Look, just… just yank it up and zip it at the same time," Ginny snapped as she grabbed the front of her light blue dress robes and pulled it up, so they gathered loosely around her shoulders.

"Gin, I've tried that, and it's not working," Hermione replied, giving the zip another hard tug. It broke for the third time that day, and the robes fell back down Ginny's back.

"_Repairo_," Hermione huffed impatiently. "We're going to be late, just change your dress robes. Those pink ones you have looked great."

"I don't want great, I want spectacular!" Ginny replied. "And these robes are spectacular. They cost me an arm and a leg at Madam Malkin's. Come on, one more try."

Hermione yanked the zip as Ginny sucked in and the dress robes came together.

"Success!" Ginny yelled, her breathing sounding strained.

"You're going to pass out before the nights over."

"Yes, but I'll do it beautifully."

Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag.

"Let's go, I promised to meet Harry in the common room fifteen minutes ago."

They descended the stairs of the girl's dormitory quickly, heels clicking loudly on the wood.

The Gryffindor common room was filled with excited students; frills and lace and bowties as far as the eye could see. They chattered amongst themselves excitedly, admiring each other's outfits, and desperately searching for their partners.

Hermione quickly spotted Harry waiting by the portrait hole with Ron, both holding a bottle of Butterbeer.

Harry was wearing robes of emerald green with silver trim and polished black dress shoes. The robes buttoned up to his throat, and he kept subconsciously tugging at the topmost button.

Ron was wearing robes of a garish red which clashed horribly with his hair. They stopped a few inches shorter than they should've and were too tight around the shoulders. He had obviously tried to modify the cuffs to make them appear less frilly, leaving them looking dishevelled and untidy instead.

Hermione and Ginny pushed through the crowd until they were in front of the boys. Both Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows in admiration.

"Well, you look not shit," Harry said, looking Hermione up and down.

Hermione was wearing dress robes of deep red with a red lipstick to pair. She had the robes magically tailored in a manner so that they constantly adjusted to give her the perfect silhouette no matter what position she stood in. They cut in sharply at the waist and had a V neckline that showed enough cleavage to make people intrigued as to what more was hidden. They flowed down her legs, rippling in the perfect places, and split at the side of her mid-thigh.

She had bought a set of new white heels that had caused her to gasp when she read the price tag. Ginny had spent ten minutes convincing her beauty was priceless before she begrudgingly purchased them.

She had straightened her hair with the help of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and paired the robes with a set of delicate creamy white bracelets and matching earrings.

It was simple, yet the collective effect of her outfit was breath-taking.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Hermione replied, beaming.

"What the fuck do you think you're wearing?" Ron snapped at Ginny once he took his eyes off Hermione.

"I could say the same to you!" Ginny replied, sassily.

"How the hell did you get robes like that? Did dickhead Diggory buy them for you with his granddaddies money?"

Ginny's eye flashed red.

"See the thing is that _some _of us spend our summers working rather than lying on our beds watching Quidditch all day," she hissed back, causing several students to glance nervously at her. "I saved the money I earnt at the Owlery and bought them myself. I can see that mum _obviously _picked yours out for you."

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the common room.

"She's going to get impregnated by five different guys by the end of the night," Ron spluttered, staring at the portrait hole.

"Just because her robes are tight doesn't mean that the girl is loose," Hermione replied, linking her arm around Harry's. "Also, that's not how pregnancy works. Leave her alone, it's her body."

Ron gaped at her as she and Harry followed Ginny's footsteps out of the portrait hole.

Hermione and Harry chattered amicably as they walked toward the Great Hall. Students around them slowly filed toward the same location, the usual sea of black robes suddenly a symphony of colours.

Hermione noticed boys and girls alike turning to gawk at her as she passed, but she deliberately ignored their eyes. She was feeling slightly self-conscious in her outfit; every now and then she would wobble dangerously in her heels and Harry would have to steady her.

They passed a suit of armour that someone clumsily dressed in yellow maternity dress robes, and even the ghosts looked to have ironed the clothing that they had died in.

They waved at people they knew, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at the jubilant atmosphere that shrouded the halls around them.

They reached the doors of the Entrance Hall and greeted Cedric and Krum who were already waiting with Ginny and a girl from Durmstrang; their respective partners.

McGonagall had told Hermione in Transfiguration that the champions were to be the first to enter the Hall and to head straight for the dance floor. That was the part she was dreading.

"Madness, isn't it?" Harry said to Hermione. The Entrance Hall was nearly bursting with waiting students, the din of the chatter so loud that Hermione could barely hear what Harry had said.

Someone had let off one of Fred and George's dragon fireworks, and it circled overhead; snapping its teeth and blowing out jets of colourful fireworks from its snout.

"The after-party is going to be insane," Harry continued.

"I wouldn't know, I'm absolutely not going," Hermione replied.

"I know you're not, you're going to be doing something else."

Hermione furrowed her brow and was about to ask him what he meant when a slight intake of breath sounded from the crowd behind her.

She turned around to investigate and saw Fleur walking toward her. Hermione drew a sharp breath of her own.

Fleur's usually silvery straight hair had been carefully styled into soft waves that flowed down her back. She wore minimal makeup, though the eyeshadow she had on appeared to be made of smoke. It moved ever so slightly as she walked, changing colour slowly to match the lighting of the room and maximise the blue of her eyes.

Her usual golden bracelets had been replaced by silver ones of the same style, with a matching necklace that hung loosely around her neck. She wore olive green three-inch heels and a clutch to match.

But that wasn't what drew Hermione's attention. It was the dress robes.

They were the same ones that Fleur had so pined after when they had visited Hogsmeade, and now Hermione knew why.

The deep lilac cloth flowed around her body perfectly; looking alive as it shifted and adjusted with each step. The sleeves were tight at the wrist, with the remaining fabric shaping her arms as it flowed seamlessly into the body to cinch at the waist. The neckline plunged in a U shape straight down to her chest, where it curved around the outside of each of her breasts. They accentuated every inch of Fleur's body like they had been tailored specifically for her.

Fleur walked toward Hermione, her posture perfect on her high heels, and beamed as she looked her up and down. Her Veela glow shone brightly, causing more people to turn and stare, transfixed.

"My goodness, you look unbelievable," Fleur breathed as she reached Hermione, subconsciously biting her lower lip lightly.

"So do you," Hermione replied, her mind not able to think straight enough to conjure a better compliment. "You went back for the couture, then?"

Fleur smiled cheekily and placed her hand on her hips, turning left and right like she was a supermodel. Hermione knew the dress robes had magic woven into it as the fabric around her chest never shifted enough to expose too much of her bare breast. Not that Hermione had been staring, or anything.

"I told you, one can never have too much couture," Fleur stated.

Hermione began to answer when Tess walked over and linked her arm with Fleur's. The reply died in her throat.

"Hey, I just heard Professor Dumbledore say that the doors will be opening soon," Tess said, reaching over and gently brushing a piece of Fleur's hair that had fallen forward onto her face. "Hey, Harry, Hermione. You guys look great."

Harry returned the compliment. Hermione merely nodded.

A loud gong boomed in the distance as the doors of the Great Hall creaked open.

Harry and Hermione hastily fell into line behind Cedric and Ginny as the music began to play from inside the Hall.

They walked in, and Hermione wobbled slightly in her heels. She heard Tess laugh lightly from behind her.

They made their way onto the dancefloor; the students from the other schools filling into the Hall after them and creating a wide circle around them. Hermione started to feel extremely nervous as they music screeched to a halt and began to play a more upbeat number.

Hermione watched as Tess leaned in and whispered something into Fleur's ear, causing her to laugh deeply. The other champions and their partners started to dance the waltz immediately; swooping and gliding across the floor.

Hermione tore her eyes away and looked at Harry, who was staring at her dumbly.

"Fuck, here we go then," he muttered. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and she shot him a questioning look.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, grabbing his hand and placing it on her back.

"I don't know how to lead!" he exclaimed and Hermione had to suppress a groan.

"Neither do I!" she whispered back frantically.

"You're the champion, you should lead!"

"Well, I always thought it was the guy who had to!"

"McGonagall said in our first dance lesson that anyone can lead, that's why in our lessons everyone's just been dancing with anyone!"

"I was in detention during that lesson, Harry!"

Hermione noticed the crowd starting to look at them as they were the only champion couple who weren't dancing.

"You've had more practice than me" Hermione hissed, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, everyone's starting to stare…"

They began to dance an awkward waltz; noticeably slower and less graceful than the champions around them. Cedric dipped Ginny as the waltzed by, and Krum and his partner did a dramatic spin that made the crowd let out a collective _oooooh_.

Hermione glanced toward Fleur and Tess once again. They were moving gracefully around the dancefloor; not doing any fancy tricks, but standing out all the same.

They were chatting amicably, occasionally leaning in to speak directly into each other's ears. Hermione began to feel irritated at how long they had to dance and, the moment the other couples joined them on the dancefloor, she let go of Harry and motioned for them to go to their table. He nodded frantically in relief.

The head table was empty as they looked for their nameplates to indicate where they were supposed to sit.

"Of course," Hermione groaned, spotting her name placed next to Tess's. Harry was next to Hermione and Ginny next to him. He seemed rather pleased with the arrangement.

They watched as the students continued to dance in front of the. Hermione began to feel less self-conscious at their miserable display at dancing as she watched the chaos happening in front of her.

Her eyes darted from couple to couple, trying to find Tess and Fleur once again.

She watched Neville trip over Luna's feet, Malfoy twirl Pansy Parkinson, and Professor Dumbledore crane his neck to talk to Maxime as they waltzed.

The majority of students were still dancing, and so it took a few moments for her to find Fleur. She had begun to hope that she had stopped dancing with Tess after the first song too, but her hopes were dashed.

They had switched to slow dance, swaying slightly on the spot, both with smiles on their face as they talked. Hermione tried to lip-read what they were saying but soon realised that they were speaking French.

"Sure doesn't look like just friendship," Hermione muttered to herself.

"Who?" Harry said, causing Hermione to jump; she had forgotten he was there. He followed her gaze and tilted his head as he realised what was causing her frustration.

"Oh, no, nobody," Hermione replied, backtracking quickly. "Just, you know, everybody here, ha ha. Lots of, um, people look like they're together."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, mate," he said softly. "You can talk to me."

Hermione stared at him.

"I don't know what you mean," she said, shifting her gaze to stare at her hands.

He paused, seeming to mull over the choice of his next words.

"She likes you a lot, Hermione. Every time I've spoken to her, she raves about you. I can see you think the same way about her."

Hermione readjusted the napkin on her lap, not knowing how to answer.

Part of her wanted to tell Harry everything, but that meant she would have to come out. She had been looking for the perfect moment to do it, and it looked like now, but still, she hesitated. The students continued to twirl and dance happily in front of them.

"You know," Harry continued, "if there's one thing I've learnt since Sirius' death, it's that you shouldn't bottle everything up."

Hermione looked up and finally met his gaze. He had refused to speak about Sirius until this point and pain was blossoming behind his eyes.

"I didn't talk to you or Ron about it 'cos it hurt too much. But, bottling it up only made things worse. I had nightmares for months, I felt angry all the time, and I couldn't wrap my head around the fact he was really gone. I thought that I could handle it on my own and that no one else would understand."

He swallowed deeply, and Hermione reached across and clasped his hand. He smiled, reassuringly at her.  
"Then one day, I was sitting outside by the Beech tree just staring at the lake," Harry continued. "Luna came and sat next to me and just started talking about how her mum died and how she handled the aftermath. She talked for about half an hour, not expecting me to tell my story, but just offering what her experience was like. And then I realised it was basically the same as mine. I realised I wasn't alone. I began to talk about Sirius, and it felt so good to get it off my chest."

Harry gazed back out over the crowd.

"All I'm saying Hermione, is that if you're struggling with something, sometimes it helps a lot to be able to talk to someone you trust about it. It's terrifying opening up when you feel insecure or feel like they can't relate, and I don't know if I can. But what I can do is listen, and help you feel a little less alone."

Hermione's eyes were brimming with tears, and she hastily wiped them away. She knew he was right.

"I'm just scared, Harry," Hermione whispered. "I've been experiencing a lot of new feelings lately, ones that aren't accepted in the Muggle world. I'm scared of how everyone will react. My parents…. my parents just aren't going to understand."

"People will surprise you, mate," Harry replied gently. "Don't assume they'll react a particular way just because of history. Your parents are good humans, and they adore you. I'm sure they'll learn to adapt."

Hermione met Harry's gaze, and a look of understanding passed between them.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked.

"I've known for a long time," Harry replied, giving her hand a supportive squeeze. "The way you look at girls and the way you look at guys is just… different. And the way you look at Fleur, well, I've never seen you so captivated by someone in my life."

Hermione shuffled in her seat slightly. She felt somewhat exposed; did everyone already know she was gay?

"You worry about her and Tess a lot," Harry continued. "Every time they're together, you shut down. Don't you trust Fleur?"

"Of course I do," Hermione replied, looking out over the crowd again. She watched as Seamus twirled Lavender multiple times until she grew dizzy and stumbled. "I just… I guess I don't understand why she's interested in me. She and Tess have so much history together, and they get along so well, and Tess is gorgeous and confident in her sexuality, and I'm just… me."

Harry slammed his hand so hard on the table that the plates bounced loudly on the wood.

"You are actually joking, right?" Harry said incredulously as Hermione seized her goblet to stop it falling over. "Not only are you the smartest witch at Hogwarts, not only are you the _champion _of Hogwarts, not only are you the best _human _at Hogwarts, but every guy and girl here would have _died_ to be able to take you to the ball."

"Harry, come on, that's not tru-"

"Do you know how many guys threatened to hex me when they found out we were going to this thing together?" Harry interrupted. "How many people said I wasn't good enough for you? The reason there are so many rumours about you and Fleur is that everyone knows you're a perfect match. And everyone hopes you two notice it, too."

Hermione smiled, sheepishly at Harry.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she said, and he shrugged.

"Well, you needed the pep talk because I bet Ginny ten galleons that you two would get together."

"Harry!"

Hermione shoved him hard on the shoulder.

"What!" he exclaimed, laughter in his voice. "Ginny asked me ages ago if you and Fleur were together, and I had no idea what she was talking about. Then I started to watch you guys a bit closer, and it was so obvious you're both gagging for it, so we placed a bet. "

Hermione covered her face with her hands as she went bright red. The music scratched to a stop, and the dancing students applauded as they slowly began to make their way to the tables. Harry was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"You could've made it a bit less obvious, mate," he continued as Hermione reached over to cover his mouth. He pushed her hand away, gleefully.

"The way you stare at her-"

"Oh my god, shut up Harry," Hermione hissed as the other champions and their partners began to take their seats around them.

"Basically drooling over her in Charms," he continued, dropping his voice to a whisper as Ginny sat down next to him

"Be quiet!"

"Have you started learning French?"

"I swear to God if you don't-"

"I bet the first sentence you learnt was "fuck me, Fl-"

Harry let out a strangled cry as Hermione stomped hard on his foot. Ginny looked at him quizzically as he clenched his teeth in pain, trying not to draw attention to himself.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked, but Harry shook his head quickly as Hermione shot him a warning look.

Tess took her seat next to Hermione and gave her a fixed smile.

"How's it?" Tess said, placing her napkin on her lap. Before Hermione could reply, she jumped to her feet again. She pulled our Fleur's chair for her as she approached, and Hermione had to fight to stop her eyes from rolling. Fleur thanked her and gave Hermione a warm smile as she sat.

Menu's suddenly appeared in front of everyone in the Great Hall.

Professor Dumbledore picked his up, glanced at it quickly, before staring at his plate and saying "pork chops". They magically appeared on his plate, much to the entertainment of Professor Fontaine who let out an over-exaggerated _oh_!

The rest of the Hall followed suit, and soon, the sound of knives and forks clattering on plates and chatter filled the space.

"House-elves have outdone themselves tonight!" Harry said happily as he chewed on his filet mignon.

"House-elves?" Tess said from beside Hermione, and Harry leant forward to meet her eye.

"Yeah, they run the kitchens here," he replied.

"Why not just employ normal chefs?" Tess replied, gazing disdainfully at her plate. "Instead of employing creatures who are so deeply entrenched in slavery, they think you're doing them a favour when you let them sleep? Surely Hogwarts can afford it?"

Hermione felt a slight rush of admiration toward the American but quickly quashed it.

"They pay them here," Harry replied defensively. "I've got a mate who's a house-elf, and he loves it."

"Because he doesn't know any better."

"Well, it was this or unemployment for him. Professor Dumbledore takes in any house-elf who needs it. If they've been clothed, most of them can't find work anymore, but they know they can come here for safety."

"And does Professor Dumbledore do anything else to progress Elfish Welfare? He's a guy with power, he could be at the forefront of changing the discriminatory laws that are currently in place."

"Did you two never learn to not talk about politics at the table?" Fleur interrupted as Harry opened his mouth to reply. He shrugged and turned back to his steak.

"You know, Hermione is passionate about Elfish Rights too?" Fleur continued, widening her eyes encouragingly at Hermione. "You two actually have a lot in common."

"Do we?" Tess asked, not looking at Hermione as she stabbed her fish with more pressure than necessary.

"Yes," Fleur replied quickly. "You both love cats, you both have won services to your school awards, both your favourite subject is Charms-"

"Mines Potions," Tess interrupted.

"Mines Transfiguration," Hermione said at the same time.

Well, okay," Fleur said, sounding slightly irritated. She pushed her peas around her plate as she thought of another topic. "Tess, tell Hermione about the time you brewed the Polyjuice Potion in our third year. It is such a funny story, then Hermione can tell you what happened the time _she _brewed it."

Tess stared at the fish skewered on her fork.

"It went wrong, I got in trouble," she said in a dull tone.

"Same," Hermione replied, just as disinterested.

Fleur glared at them individually before muttering "_women_" and turning to speak to Viktor.

Dinner soon finished, to be replaced by mountains of dessert.

Ginny groaned as she eyed the dishes, her tight dress robes already stretching to an uncomfortable extent.

"Just go and get changed!" Cedric said, but Ginny refused, exhaling heavily as she reached for a chocolate éclair.

Hermione helped herself to some treacle tart as the voices of Dumbledore and Fontaine carried over to her.

"…all I'm saying," Fontaine said edgily, "is that we cannot be too quick to judge. I have friends who swear they are getting the best protection in the world."

"But at what cost, my dear Agilbert?" Dumbledore replied calmly. "Allegiance to the Death Eater's is allegiance to Voldemort himself."

Fontaine shuddered at Voldemort's name but gathered himself quickly.

"I quite disagree, Dumbledore! I have known Corban Yaxley for a long time, he's come for tea a few times when he's been in the neighbourhood, and he couldn't be a nicer man!"

"I have a few students who have had the unfortunate chance to duel Corban, and I would safely assume they would not agree."

Dumbledore caught Hermione's eye, and she quickly looked back to her treacle tart.

Fontaine squinted his eyes and began to twirl his goatee thoughtfully.

"Well, I can't say I've _seen _Yaxley in a few years," Fontaine grumbled,"… and with the current state of things… but still, he offers the best protection… who am I to say…" he trailed off before shaking his head and laughing without humour. "Dumbledore, that doesn't mean I support You Know Who!"

"But you are willing to overlook the atrocities of his closest followers for your own gain?" Dumbledore replied.

"The world isn't safe right now!" Fontaine protested. "You cannot fault me for wanting to protect my family."

"No, I can't. But there will come a time where you must choose a side, my friend. And I hope you choose ours."

Fontaine scoffed, turning his back to Dumbledore and joining in on Karkaroff's and Maxime's conversation instead.

Hermione felt Dumbledore's eyes on her one again, so she quickly turned and began listening to Ginny and Harry's conversation about the ethics behind dating a Mer-person.

Dessert finally disappeared, and students rose once more to dance. A great cheer went up as The Weird Sister's walked on to the stage; waving their wands to summon their instruments as fairies sat casually on their shoulders.

Cedric quickly asked Tess to dance, and she begrudgingly said yes, glancing at Fleur as she left.

Relieved, Hermione leant across to engage Fleur in conversation, only to be cut off by Madam Maxime who promptly took Tess' vacant seat.

Hermione clenched her jaw; was she going to get any time with Fleur tonight?

Harry noticed her tense demeanour and touched her arm.

"Hey, Ginny and I are going to go to one of the empty tables," he said quickly. "I feel like I'm being watched up here. Want to come?"

"Yeah, okay," Hermione sighed, rising from her chair. She caught Fleur's eye as she stood and smiled, stiffly at her.

Maxime was talking in fast French, gesturing wildly, her attention on the dancefloor. Taking advantage of her distraction, Fleur brought her hand to the collar of her dress robes, pretending to scratch her chest as she pulled them back slightly. Hermione caught a glimpse of silver and let out an incredulous laugh. The badge that Fleur had bought at Hogsmeade of Hermione's face was smiling back at her.

Fleur winked at her, before quickly bringing her attention back to Maxime and nodding furiously in faux interest.

Hermione had to force herself not to skip as she, Ginny and Harry entered the crowd, manoeuvring past dancing students to an empty table.

Harry swiped three bottles of Butterbeer from a passing house elf's tray as it walked past, the girls thanking him as they sat down.

"I reckon I'm a better dancer than her," Ginny mused, nodding her head to where Cedric and Tess were jumping up and down. "Can't believe I was his second choice."

"Second choice for what?" Harry asked.

"For the ball! He asked Tess first, but she said she was waiting for someone to ask her."

Hermione scowled at her Butterbeer.

"Yeah, well, she got what she wanted then," Hermione said grumpily. "Though, if I weren't such a wuss, she wouldn't have…" she trailed off as Harry and Ginny both stared at her.

"Oh, you've decided you're finally ready to talk about Fleur," Ginny said, straightening up. "Good, because I have concerns."

"I- uh- what?" Hermione stammered, slightly off guard.

"Well, it's obvious you've had the hots for her for _ages_," Ginny replied. "I noticed the way you were looking at her probably… a week after you met?"

"Does everyone…"

"No," Ginny said quickly. "Everyone else just gossips. Only Harry and I can see that it's real."

Hermione self-consciously scratched at the label on her Butterbeer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry nod slightly at Ginny.

"So, like I said, I have concerns," Ginny continued, leaning forward to rest on her elbows. "Hermione, her sister is fucked up. Like, _really _fucked up. You can ask Moody about it when we go to The Burrow tomorrow, but I think you'll be in serious danger if you date her."

"Why does everyone keep thinking I care about that?" Hermione retorted. "She barely sees Amandine, and even if she did, why would she care that much who her sister dates?"

"You don't know the full story," Ginny replied. "Moody helped run the background checks on the other schools before this tournament over the summer, and I heard him talking about her with mum. He said Fleur was nearly not allowed to come because Amandine's her sister. _That's _how bad she is."

"Yeah, but-"

"And he said that Amandine might have ties to You Know Who," Ginny interrupted. "There's rumour around the Ministry that she's switched allegiance from Grindelwald to You Know Who and is trying to become a Death Eater. Hermione, if she got in and she knew her younger sister was dating Harry Potter's best friend, you'd be in an unreal amount of danger."

"She's right," Harry added. "Amandine would know where you were, which means Voldemort could use you as a tool to get to me. "

Hermione looked out over the dance floor, watching as her fellow students jumped and danced to the music. Fleur was now standing to the side of them all, talking intensely with a Beauxbaton's girl. She laughed at something the girl said, and Hermione felt her stomach flutter. She had to tear her eyes away to focus back on Ginny and Harry.

"That's all rumour at the moment," she said, and Ginny tutted incredulously. "I can look after myself. I really like her, you guys. The thought of stopping things because of rumours about her sister is ridiculous."

"Then why hasn't she told you more about her sister yet? And what's the deal with that Speropax? It has a weird bond to her. The other day when I was on the grounds with Cedric, we stopped so he could pat it. I made a joke about Fleur's accent, and the dog nearly took my damn arm off. I'm telling you that girl has secrets!"

"Ginny, just back off!" Hermione snapped, and Ginny sucked in her cheeks. She stood, hitching the front of her dress robes up as she did.

"Just… talk to Moody at The Burrow, okay?" she said. "Maybe he can talk some sense into you. There are tons of other witches out there that are better for you. Fleur knows what the situation with her family is, and the fact she hasn't told you about it shows how selfish she really is."

With that, Ginny turned on her heel and disappeared amongst the dancers.

"I'm not a child," Hermione grumbled, glaring after her friend. "I don't need Ginny Weasley telling me what I can and can't do."

"She's just worried mate," Harry said softly. "You know how bad things are right now. It might just all be rumours though, maybe it's a good idea to have a chat with Moody? Get some insight from someone who's actually amongst it?"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as someone shouted-

"DOLOHOV!"

Harry and Hermione jumped to their feet, whipping out their wands and looking around frantically. Hermione surveyed the hall quickly for the familiar black hood of the Death Eater's, but all she could see was dancing students in their colourful dress robes.

Hermione frowned as all the teachers appeared unperturbed; still deep in their conversations or slowly walking the perimeter of the dancefloor keeping watch.

"Dolohov!" the voice shouted again, and Hermione realised that the voice was Cedric's. He was waving at someone and beckoning them toward him. She followed his gaze, and her mouth dropped open.

Mikhail was waving back, holding up a bottle of Firewhiskey in salute. His eyes were slightly crossed as he swayed out of time to the music.

"You are fucking kidding me!" Harry exclaimed. "Mikhail's a Dolohov?"

Hermione remembered back to the night of the first party, Mikhail's words echoing in her brain

_You've caused my family a lot of trouble, you know that? You and your scar-headed mate, after what you pulled in the Department of Mysteries last year!_

"No wonder he hated me so much," Hermione said, slightly dazed at the revelation. "Harry, we're the reason his family member is in prison!"

"So, he should be" Harry replied, scowling as Mikhail stumbled over to Cedric. "And what the hell is Cedric playing at being friends with someone like that? For someone everyone likes so much, he sure does have a lot of connections to dark wizards."

Hermione silently agreed as Cedric and Mikhail embraced. Tess jumped back with a yell as Mikhail spilt Firewhisky over her robes.

The topic of Death Eater's had come up time and time again that night, and Hermione was feeling uneasy. She had the feeling that something bad was coming.

Luna and Ron soon joined them at their table, and Hermione forced herself to join in on their conversation, rather than worry about the events of the night.

She refused multiple people asking her to dance, making hurried excuses such as sore feet or a bad case of the hiccups.

The dancing around them grew dirtier, and soon, the teachers gave up on trying to keep students behaving in a respectable manner.

Seamus had been ejected from the ball for taking off his dress robes and twirling them over his head to one of the Weird Sister's more erratic songs. Katie Bell had a group of giggling girls surrounding her as she secretly poured them drinks from her hidden bottle of Knotgrass Mead. Terry Boot was making bunches of flowers appear from his wand, giving them to any girl who walked past and attempting to engage them in conversation.

Hermione's eyes often absent-mindedly floated over to watch Fleur. She had danced briefly with Cedric but had mainly resorted to talking with her fellow Beauxbaton's students. Roger Davies had attempted to ask her to dance multiple times, once trying to pull her out of her chair by her arm.

Hermione had made to stand up to tell him to back off when Fleur had touched his hand with her wand and caused him to yell in pain. He left her alone after that.

The hall started to slowly empty as students began to head to the after-party. Hermione let out a wide yawn; it had been a long night and an unenjoyable one at that.

She hadn't spotted Fleur in awhile, and therefore lost complete interest in being at the ball at all. Hermione thought about her warm-cosy four-poster bed and how she couldn't wait to be out of her heels. She picked up her bag and made to stand.

"Wait!" Harry yelped, lunging forward and snatching her bag out of her hand.

"Harry, wha-" she began to say, but he interrupted her.

"Don't go yet," he said quickly, looking frantically around the hall. "Just… just wait here. I'll be back in a second."  
He stood and disappeared amongst the dwindling crowd, taking Hermione's bag with him. She sighed loudly, falling back into her chair.

The Weird Sister's finished up their last song to rapturous applause, and the fairies on their shoulders whizzed overhead, leaving a sparkling trail behind them.

The remaining students began to slowly file out, chatting happily amongst each other and heading toward the seventh floor for the after-party in the Room of Requirement.

Hermione looked around, feeling rather irritated. She didn't want to be the loser who was the last to leave. She stood, deciding that Harry could give her her bag in the morning when a voice from next to her said, "Have you seen Fleur?"

Tess stood with her arms folded as Hermione slowly turned toward her.

"Lost her, have you?" Hermione replied, coolly.

"She said she was going to get punch, but that was half an hour ago," Tess replied.

"Maybe she went to bed."

"She wouldn't do that without saying goodnight."

"Wouldn't she?"

Tess glared for a moment, before quickly rearranging her features to look unfazed.

"No, she wouldn't," Tess replied. "We have this thing we always do when we say goodbye, where we-"

"I'm sure you do," Hermione cut in. "Look, I haven't seen her, and I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

She made to walk away when Tess grabbed her wrist.

"I think you're lying," Tess said, her grip on Hermione's wrist tight. "I think you're meeting her somewhere."

Hermione clenched her hand into a fist.

"I'm going to give you three seconds to let go of me," she replied quietly. "Otherwise I'll hex you into the new year."

Tess paused and let go.

"Where is she, Hermione?"

"I've told you, I don't know."  
"Bullshit."

"Believe what you want."

"She's too good for you."

Hermione blinked.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione said, her hand slowly inching toward her wand.

"I see the way you look at her," Tess hissed. Some students walking by turned their heads to watch the interaction and Hermione froze. "You don't know her the way I do. I've been through everything with her. _Everything_. You have no idea the shit she's had to deal with to be the woman she is today."

"I'm sure I'll learn," Hermione retorted, and this time Tess didn't try to hide her glare.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into. You don't know how to support her like I do. You're just going to get her into more trouble."

"She can make her own choices about who she wants to be with. No-one knows her situation better than she does."

Harry suddenly reappeared next to Hermione, his broad smile dropping as he noticed the girls glaring daggers at each other.

"Er, am I interrupting something?" he asked awkwardly.

"No," Hermione snapped, snatching her bag from his hand. "Let's go."

She strode out of the Great Hall, Harry on her heels. Tess stayed where she was, watching as they left.

"The _nerve _she has," Hermione muttered to herself, storming past a group of Ravenclaws. "Thinks she can tell me what to do, that seems to be the theme for the nigh- Harry, what?"

Harry had grabbed her arm as she turned to walk up the staircase toward the common room.

"You're going the wrong way," he said smirking.

Hermione sighed loudly.

"Harry, I'm going to bed. I'm tired, I'm not going to the after-party or whatever thing you might have planned."

"It's not something I planned," he replied, pulling her gently against the flow of the crowd toward the doors of the Entrance Hall. "Trust me, you're not going to regret it."

"I swear to God, Harry if you're taking me to another planet reading with the centaurs…"

Harry gave her a wry smile as they pushed open the doors and stepped into the cold night.

A decent-sized garden was set up to their left; large hedged sculptures adorning the sides of it with a variety of benches decorated in fairy lights scattered throughout. Groups of students were strewn around the area, emitting warm heat from their wands and taking sneaky swigs from hidden bottles.

Hermione began to walk toward it, but Harry pulled her in the opposite direction.

"Not that way", he said lightly and pointed into the darkness in the direction of the lake.

"I'm not going swimming," Hermione protested as they began to walk as she lit her wand.

"It's not swimming," he replied, lighting his own.

They walked in some footprints that had already been made, the inky darkness providing Hermione with no clue as to where they were going.

"It's freezing out here, Harry," she groaned as her silk robes did nothing to defend her against the icy air.

"Not far now."

"Is it the forbidden forest?"

"No."

"Hagrid's hutt?"

"No."

"Grawp's hideout?"

"Why the hell would we go there?"

"Oh, I don't know! It's so cold my brain has frozen."

Hermione squinted as a small light appeared ahead, and she walked into the back of Harry as he stopped abruptly. He pointed toward the light.

"Just up there," he said, his wand light illuminating his smiling face.

"What, you're not coming with me?" Hermione replied, nervously.

"You don't want me there. Now, will you just go?"

He waved at her and Hermione watched Harry's retreating back, hearing him mutter about what hard work she was.

The thought of being alone in the dark didn't appeal to her, but she turned and continued to walk toward the light, glancing side to side like her head was on a metronome. The darkness pressed against her, and she forced herself to focus on the growing light.

An owl hooted loudly in the distance as her teeth chattered loudly. She pulled her robes tightly around herself, cursing as she began to think that this might be Harry's idea of an elaborate joke.

The light was extremely close now, and Hermione saw that it was illuminating her favourite Beech tree

She stared at the familiar tree, not noticing the large chunk of ice in front of her until her high heels made contact with it. Her feet shot out from under her, and she landed heavily on her back.

"Ow, fuck!" Hermione yelled, rubbing the back of her head.

"Now, that's no language for a lady."

Hermione looked up to see Fleur standing above her, hand extended.

"What are you doing here?' Hermione said lamely, accepting Fleur's hand and gingerly getting to her feet.

"I told you I had something special planned for tonight. Surely you did not think that I meant it had anything to do with that disaster of a ball?"

Hermione's spirits lifted considerably, an extraordinary feat considering her head was throbbing, and her robes were soaked through from the snow.

"You didn't have a good time? Hermione asked, the vision of Tess and Fleur laughing while they danced swimming to the front of her mind.

"It was fine, but I did not get to spend any time with you. So, in that sense, it was a disaster. Come on."

Fleur linked their fingers together and lead her around the large Beech tree. Hermione's couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face.

The light she had been following was, in fact, a blue fire that had been lit and placed in a jar near the trunk of the tree. They walked around it to see a circle of jars; all filled with the same soft blue fire flickering gently.

Fireflies hovered lazily in the branches above, and the area had been completely cleared of snow. An old gramophone was propped up against the base of the tree.

Hermione and Fleur walked into the circle, and the air instantly warmed up; Hermione's robes suddenly becoming dry and cosy.

"How- when-," Hermione stuttered as Fleur waved her wand at the gramophone. It began to play a slow tune as a woman sung softly in French.

"Harry and I have been planning this all week," Fleur beamed. "That is what we have been talking about in the corridors when you have seen us."

"_Harry Potter_ helped with this?"

Fleur chuckled.

"Yes, Harry Potter helped with this. After Charms one day he asked for a private word. I thought he was going to ask me to the ball, but instead, he told me that you had asked him. He basically said that he knew that there was something between us and that we should be going together."

"That was bold of him."

"Indeed. I told him that you were not comfortable doing that and so he suggested I should plan something. I know you like this tree so I thought it would be the perfect place. I came out here about thirty minutes ago to set it all up. He found that gramophone in the Room of Requirement yesterday and said he would convince you to come out here once the ball was over. I think he is a bit of a romantic."

"Who would've guessed?"

"Yes, well, enough about him."

Fleur moved toward her and snaked her arms around Hermione's waist, pulling her close. Hermione immediately wrapped her arms around Fleur's neck, and they swayed slowly on the spot in time with the music.

"This is amazing," Hermione murmured their faces only inches apart. "How did you get the fireflies to come here?" She nodded her head toward the branches where they twinkled and twirled brightly above them.

"It is astonishing what a little bit of honey can do."

"That's a smart idea. Not just a pretty face, then?"

"I try my best."

They held eye contact again, and the air around them suddenly felt hotter.

"I hated not being able to dance with you at the ball," Hermione said quietly.

"Me too. Though I did have a part of you with me the whole time…"

Fleur removed a hand from Hermione's waist and showed the little badge stuck to the inside of her robes again. She pulled her robes back a bit further this time, exposing slightly more of her breast. Hermione subconsciously bit down hard on her lower lip, and Fleur's eyes widened slightly at the sight.

"Do you like it?" Fleur whispered. Whether she was referring to their surroundings or the badge or her slightly exposed chest, Hermione wasn't sure. But it didn't matter.  
"It's perfect," Hermione replied softly and their gaze met.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world as Hermione and Fleur leant in at the same time, their lips finally meeting in a soft kiss.

Hermione felt like the flames around them must be blazing, and the music must have become louder, and the air burning hot as her body buzzed. Fleur's lips were so soft as she slowly began to press them harder into Hermione's. She subtly took control, kissing Hermione for longer and longer, keeping the time their lips were parted to a minimum.

Fleur took a hand off of Hermione's waist and placed her finger softly on Hermione's face, stroking her thumb softly along her jaw. Hermione felt like her head was completely clear and yet an incoherent mess all at once.

A soft moan escaped from her mouth, and Fleur shuddered slightly upon hearing it. She pulled her in closer as if any space between them was too much distance.

Fleur opened her mouth slightly, parsing Hermione's lips with her own and softly wrapping their tongues around each other.

Through Hermione's closed eyes, she could see that a bright light was shining from Fleur and knew that it was her Veela glow raging out of control. She felt like every part of her body was tingling as their tongues moved slowly around each other.

Hermione had kissed boys before, and it had been fine, but _this_. This was different. It was as if she had been in a locked room, and suddenly, the door was flung open.

_How could I have ever thought this was a bad thing? _Hermione thought, but at that moment, Fleur softly bit her lower lip, and her mind went blank once again.

The glow emanating from Fleur suddenly grew blindingly bright, and Hermione thought she may go blind if she opened her eyes. But no, that wasn't a glow, that was a _light_…

Hermione's hands were suddenly empty as the light flashed again, and she opened her eyes.

Fleur was ten metres away, outside of the circle and laying in a mound of snow. Her eyes were wide in surprise as she stood up.

"Don't bother!" a voice shouted, and Fleur was flung again into another pile of snow.

"What the fu-" Hermione said, spinning around to where the voice was and reaching for her wand.

Tess stood there, her wand pointing in Fleur's direction. The blue flames flickered, and Hermione could see tear tracks down Tess' face. Hermione froze as she stared at the livid girl.

"What are you playing at, Fleur?" Tess shouted, sending another spell in Fleur's direction which sailed past her head.

"Tess, what are you-" Fleur began but Tess shouted over her.

"I knew you had snuck off to meet her, so I followed Harry and Hermione out here!" Tess interrupted. "And then I saw… I saw… " She trailed off as fresh tears filled her eyes. "Why would you get my hopes up like that! Invite me to the ball and dance with me all close like that and talk about how I should visit over the summer and then, and then… _her!"_

Tess pointed her finger in Hermione's direction, and Hermione flinched.

Fleur looked at Tess incredulously and began to stand again.

"Tess, I _told _you we were just going as friends-"

But Fleur was cut off as Tess shot another spell that sent her flying backwards into the snow once again.

"Okay, we are going to _stop _doing that," Fleur snapped, drawing out her own wand now.

"You don't get to tell me what to do!" Tess yelled. "How can you be okay with us just being friends? We should be together, and I thought you were starting to finally realise that!"

"I have told you, I do not feel that way about you!" Fleur snapped. "You do not get to just hex me every time you are jealous that I am with someone else!"

"You know how much trouble you'll get in if Amandine knows you're dating Hermione?" Tess replied, her voice cracking slightly. "How much trouble _she _will be in? How could you be so _selfish_?"

"Oh, do not pretend like you care about Hermione-" Fleur began to say, but Tess sent another spell in her direction which she had to quickly parry.

"Fuck you!" Tess shouted, and she spun on her heel and trudged in the direction of the Ilvermorny truck.

Fleur watched her go, shaking her head as she gingerly got to her feet. Her robes were soaked through from the snow, and hung limply off her body.

"She is unbelievable," Fleur said as she entered the circle of jars again to where Hermione still stood motionless. "A total over-reaction if I have ever seen one. Now, where were we…"

Fleur voice trailed off as she saw the expression on Hermione's face.

"I told you this would happen," Hermione snapped. "And you were all "don't worry, I know her, she'll know we're just friends" and now look at the mess you've made!"

"It's not my fault she sees things that aren't there!" Fleur protested, but Hermione shook her head.

"Can't you see where she's coming from?"

"No!"

"Come on, even I thought you two looked closer than friends at the ball with the way you were dancing with each other."

"I am French!"

Hermione tutted.

"You think you two are just normal friends and you're not. You need to apologise to her. You may not realise it, but you're leading her on, and it's not fair."

Hermione turned and began to stride back to the castle, the air turning frigid as she exited the warm circle.

"Hermione, wait!" Fleur called after her. "You cannot be serious right now! I will talk to her later, come back!"

"Go and clean up your mess like a grownup, then we can talk," Hermione replied, pulling her robes tightly around herself for warmth. "I'll see you at breakfast."

Fleur watched in disbelief as she watched Hermione reach the castle and disappear inside.

"_Women_," Fleur huffed as she turned to walk toward the Ilvermorny truck.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"…and then I stood outside the truck for two hours in the freezing fucking cold trying to convince Tess to talk to me. Eventually, Fontaine came out and told me to leave, or he would call Madame Maxime. Then I was so tired that I slept through breakfast and Hermione had left for Christmas break before I could clear things up with her," Fleur finished, slumping back into the leather couch.

She was at her family home in France for the Christmas holidays and was re-telling Gabrielle the story from the night of the Yule Ball. It was only the first day of the holidays, and she was already dying to get back to Hogwarts to speak to Hermione. She had tried to send a message on the coin Hermione had given her but had received no reply.

"To be honest, it sounds like you deserved what you got," Gabrielle replied as she popped a grape into her mouth.

"You are meant to take my side!"

"Why would I do that? You are trying to have the best of both worlds at the moment, and it is not working. How difficult for you, to have to choose between two beautiful, intelligent women…"

"There is no choice!" Fleur snapped. "Tess is being ridiculous, I do not see why we cannot just be friends!"

Gabrielle shrugged and reached for another grape.

"Probably best for you to ask her when you are back at Hogwarts in a week."

Fleur fidgeted with her bracelets as she thought about how much apologising she would have to do. She hated being wrong, but she hated Hermione being mad at her even more. She heard some rustling at the door behind her and assumed the house-elf was coming in with their lunch.

"Out of curiosity, why are you not attracted to Tess?" Gabrielle asked.

"I have just never seen her in that way" Fleur replied slowly. "I have only ever seen her as a friend."

"How is the Hogwarts girl different?"

"She just… is," Fleur replied, unable to stop a smile creeping across her face. "I like her so much, Gabrielle. She is smart, funny, kind-"

"Alright, alright, I do not need a list," Gabrielle said, waving her hand lazily. "I get it, you're obsessed with Hermione Granger."

"Hermione Granger?" a voice said from behind them, and Fleur's entire body stiffened. Gabrielle let out a quiet gasp as she turned toward the sound. "As in Harry Potter's best friend?"

Fleur slowly got to her feet, back still facing the door as Gabrielle gaped at the incumbent.

"It has nothing to do with you," Fleur said through gritted teeth.

"I beg to differ," Amandine replied, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe casually. "My little sister dating Harry Potter's best friend? No, no, that's just not going to work."

o-o-o-o-o-o

**A/N: What do you guys think! Do you agree with Tess or Fleur in this situation? Do you think Hermione over-reacted? Let me know!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Ya'll…. I know, okay. Many thought this fic was left to the abandoned alleyways of , but she's back! The last update was August 2019. Yes, I know. So, I highly recommend any old readers who have faithfully stuck by me to go back and read the last chapter. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to go back and read through the entire story again to make sure I didn't fall into plot holes/remember the direction I was going in.**

**I can tell you that part went well! I had a stroke of inspiration lately and remembered my lonely little Fleurmione fic that just wanted some attention. So, I'm back. **

**I have three quarters of the next chapter written too, so I promise this isn't just a tease to get you all hooked back in before I leave you on read again.**

**I'd love to hear your feedback on the chapter. This one has it all and it's the tipping point for big things to happen. **

**Here we go...**

"What are you thinking about?" Fleur murmured.

Hermione stretched and rolled over. The thick blanket that was covering her naked torso slid down slightly and she shivered at the briskness of the morning air.

"I'm thinking about how you need some heating in your room," Hermione replied, grabbing the blanket and pulling it back above her shoulders.

"Why do we need heating when I can keep you warm instead?"

Hermione grinned as Fleur climbed on top of her, placing her hands either side of Hermione's shoulders and lightly pushing her groin forward. The pale skin of her chest glowed softly as Hermione let out a small moan at the contact. Her eyes fell to Fleur's chest, but it appeared blurry, like a photo with over-exposed brightness.

Fleur leant forward and Hermione's eyes darted up to make contact with the familiar blue. They met in a soft kiss.

"Warm yet?" Fleur murmured into Hermione's lips.

"Hmmm, not quite."

"How about now?"

Fleur pushed her groin harder into Hermione's, causing a buzz to electrify through her body. They kissed again, more desperately this time as their hips moved slowly together.

Fleur brought her hand to the side of Hermione's neck to steady her before leaning down and biting hard on the other side. Hermione moaned, tangling her fingers in Fleur's hair and involuntarily clenching her hand into a fist.

"Shhhh," Fleur whispered. "I haven't put a silencing spell on the door."

Hermione flicked her eyes to the closed door of Fleur's room, but something caught her attention. The wood was distorted and the usual curved golden handle was gone. It looked easy to push open.

"Did you get a new door?" Hermione asked nervously and Fleur let out a small laugh.

"Are you really focusing on my door right now?"

"No, no. It's just… never mind."

They kissed again, and Hermione ran her fingers up and down Fleur's spine, feeling the muscles in her back shift.

_I'm overreacting_, Hermione thought. _Nobody's going to catch us._

A sharp knock rattled the door.

Hermione jumped and made to quickly move apart, but Fleur pinned her to the spot.

"Don't hide," Fleur said softly. "Let them in."

"What!? Why would I let them in? It could be Madame Maxime, or Tess, or my parents-"

"Why would your parents be here?"

Hermione furrowed her brow. Why _would _her parents be here?

Another sharp knock.

"I have to hide," Hermione said quickly. "What if someone sees us?"

"So what if they do?"

"Fleur, we're… we're naked! And then everyone will know we're together and then everyone will know I'm… gay."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"It's not bad."

"Then why does it matter? Harry and Ginny already know. It is who you are, what is the big deal about everyone else knowing too?"

Hermione stared at Fleur. Her face looked impassive, almost dismissive, as she continued to pin Hermione to the spot.

Another loud knock on the door, and this time the person behind it called her name.

"This isn't you," Hermione said quickly. "You told me I could take my time with this."

"Did you expect me to wait forever? Tess is ready to be with me right now."

A sharp pang struck Hermione's chest at these words and, with great effort, she pushed Fleur off of her. She scrambled to the side of the bed to look for her robes, but there were no clothes to be found. She turned to search Fleur's wardrobe, but it was empty.

Fleur slowly stood from the bed, suddenly fully dressed, and crossed her arms.

"Open the door, Hermione," Fleur said sharply.

"You have to be joking! I'm fucking naked!"

"Stop trying to hide, it's time to show people who you are."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water.

Fleur turned and walked toward the door, her movements stiff. She pointed at the door, and the handle suddenly reappeared.

"It's time to go out," Fleur said, her eyes boring into Hermione's.

The handle began to rattle.

"I can't," Hermione said in a shrill voice as tears threatened to cloud her eyes. She covered herself with her hands as the handle continued to rattle.

"Then you will be trapped in here," Fleur replied.

"Just… just give me some robes and I will."

"Open the door."

"Can't you open it for me?"

"No."

"Who's out there?"

"Everyone."

Hermione looked around the room frantically for another escape, but there was none. All the items that had been there moments ago had disappeared, leaving Hermione standing in a white, empty space.

She turned back to the door and realised Fleur had disappeared too. She was alone.

The handle began to rattle more violently and Hermione looked at it apprehensively. She knew that it wouldn't open unless she let it, but that proved no comfort.

She began to shiver as the room cooled, staring at the thick wood that remained the only thing keeping her separated from the outside world.

Tentatively she took a step forward, and black robes suddenly swirled around her; clothing her completely.

She straightened her posture as she took another step. Thick boots formed in front of her which she stepped into, her feet immediately warming from the cold of the tiles.

She reached the door and paused. The handle stopping rattling as she placed her hand on it, turning it slowly and-

"Hermione!"

Hermione's eyes snapped open as a plush toy Hippogriff bounced off of her head.

"Merlin, you sleep like the dead," Harry exclaimed as he stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. "I've been knocking on your door for a solid minute."

"Waz goin' on?" Hermione grumbled, throwing the toy to the floor and rubbing her eyes blearily.

"We have to help Mrs Weasley get ready for tonight, the Order's coming around," Harry replied. "Ginny and Fred are already de-gnoming the garden and Ron and George are setting up the tables. Mrs Weasley asked if we can get the chickens into the coop."

"Right, coming."

Harry shut the door behind him as Hermione stretched. She tried to remember the dream she had been having, but it was slipping out of mind like water through a sieve. All she knew was that she had woken in a cold sweat and was strangely turned on.

It was a Friday morning and she had been staying at The Burrow since the beginning of the Christmas holidays. Mrs Weasley had told them when they arrived about the dinner she was planning with the Order, but Hermione's mind had been pre-occupied so she had totally forgotten.

As had been the routine the past five mornings, Hermione reached into the bedside drawer Ginny had set aside for her. She felt around until her fingers closed over the familiar cold Galleon, and withdrew it quickly.

Disappointment washed over her as she saw the same message she had sent five days ago still reflecting from the coin.

_Did you manage to clear things up with Tess? I looked for you at breakfast but you weren't there._

She had been leaving the Galleon in the drawer while she spent time with the Weasley's and Harry, though her mind was often pulled to it as she hoped for a reply.

Fleur had sent a message the morning that Hermione left for the holiday, but life had been so hectic that she hadn't been able to reply until that night. She hadn't heard a word from her since.

Hermione slowly got out of Ginny's bed that they were sharing and got dressed. She made to place the coin back into the drawer, paused, and slid it into her back pocket next to her wand instead.

o-o-o-o-o-o

After a hurried breakfast, Hermione found the thickest coat she could and exited the house to meet Harry.

It was a brisk morning and the grass crunched under her boots as she made her way to the chicken coop. The sun provided no warmth and she internally scolded herself for not wearing her moleskin gloves.

Harry was already at the coop, chasing a number of chickens as they clucked and flapped their wings in frenzy.

"About time!" He shouted, grabbing a chicken that had nestled itself into a nearby bush. He hastily placed it into the rickety coop and shut the hatch firmly. "These things are manic, no wonder Ron and Ginny volunteered to do the other jobs."

"You're scaring them, you need to have a lighter touch," Hermione replied loftily.

"What would you know about chickens?"

"More than you apparently," she said as she crept up behind an unsuspecting one and gently picked it up. Harry grunted.

Hermione placed the bird in its coop, quickly retracting her hands as it made to nip at her finger.

They spent the next fifteen minutes rounding up the birds until only a few of the more intelligent ones remained.

Hermione began to sneak up on a particularly quick one, when she felt something warm in her back pocket.

_The coin!_

She quickly reached into her pocket as the startled bird clucked pointedly and hobbled away.

She withdrew it, nearly dropping it in her haste, only to see that her own message still shone back at her. Disappointment washed over her once again.

"You're obsessed with that thing," Harry yelled as he tried to convince a curious chicken closer with some birdseed. "Keep forgetting what a galleon looks like or something?"

"No, it's… Fleur has the other one. It's how we've been communicating while we're on holiday. Well, that's what was _supposed _to happen."

"She hasn't been writing back?" Harry asked as he lunged for the chicken. It flapped its wings in a panic and evaded his hands by inches. "Maybe you did the charm on the coin wrong and she just hasn't been getting the messages?"

"Excuse me, the charm is fine," Hermione snapped. "She wrote to me first and I replied and now I haven't heard from her in five days."

"Well, write her again."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"I can't send two messages in a row. That's desperate."

Harry looked at her incredulously and shook his head.

"I'll never understand women," he muttered as he lunged toward another chicken. He exclaimed in surprise as his hands wrapped around the unsuspecting bird, squashing it slightly.

"You missed some interesting conversation this morning," he continued as he placed the bird into the coop. It staggered as it made its way toward the group. Harry turned and wiped a small bead of sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist. "Bill was talking about the Diggory's."

"What about them?" Hermione replied as she searched the yard for her next target.

"He spent some time in the US on a curse-breaking tour. Said his partner was an American whose father worked in the same office as Diggory's grandfather. The American said that the grandfather passed a bunch of laws against muggle-wizard relationships."

"Didn't we already know that?"

"Yeah, I guess. He just mentioned that the Diggory family has a long history of conservative views. Outspoken supporters against Muggleborns using magic. Think that schools of magic should only admit kids with proven blood history. Cedric's dad endorsed that buffoon who's in office at the moment at the American Ministry, the one who tried saying that Muggleborns steal magic."

"Well, then Cedric's dad is as stupid as his grandfather."

"You don't think some of that might've rubbed off on Cedric?"

Hermione began to walk towards a chicken hiding in some shrubbery.

"I don't know, Harry. Come on, let's get the rest of them."

Over the next twenty minutes they managed to round up the last of the birds and Harry finally clasped the lock shut on the coop. He let out a satisfied sigh and peeled his gloves from his hands. Hermione subconsciously checked the coin again and Harry let out an over-exaggerated tut.

"Just send her another message!" he exclaimed. "You obviously want to hear from her, you've been obsessing over talking to her, and the past five days she's all you've talked about to me."

Hermione was pleased her face was red from the cold so Harry didn't see her blush.

"That's not true!" she protested and he made a noise of irritation.

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Just admit it, you're in love with her!"

Hermione made a sound halfway between disbelief and anger.

"Wha- I- no I don't!" she replied heatedly and spun on her heel to walk back toward The Burrow. Harry rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up.

"Come on, I was just joking, don't be upset," he said, nudging her with his elbow.

"I'm not upset, you're just being ridiculous. I'm not- I don't-"

"Okay, okay," Harry replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "Let's change the topic. Are you going to talk to Moody tonight?"

Hermione kicked a clump of dirt, watching as it sprayed across the lawn. An escaped gnome peeked out from a hedge, glaring at the two of them.

"I'm sure I will, he always has some mental story to tell."

"No, I mean about what Ginny said. About the Delacour family."

Hermione paused. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about the advice Ginny gave her at the ball, but she also didn't particularly want to hear any more bad news about Fleur or her family.

"I don't know," she replied. "I'll just see how the night goes."

Harry shrugged.

"The whole Order is going to be here and you're the Hogwarts champion. I'm sure the topic is going to come up."

Hermione's stomach did a nervous flip as they reached the door of The Burrow. Smoke was pouring from the chimney as Percy stoked the fire and the entire Weasley family were sat around the scrubbed wooden table inside.

Hermione paused and Harry looked at her quizzically.

"I'll be in in a minute," she said, holding the door open for him. He shrugged and scurried inside, squeezing into a spot between Charlie and Mr Weasley.

Hermione shut the door, appreciating the quiet of the yard around her.

The trees creaked loudly as she withdrew the coin from her pocket once again and tapped it with her wand. Holding it close to her mouth, she whispered, "I hope everything is okay. I miss you."

The steam from her breath glanced across the coin as the tiny letters changed to the words she had just said. They floated slightly, waiting to be secured and sent to its sister coin.

Hermione paused for a moment and then tapped it with her wand. The words sunk into the metal and she shoved it back into her pocket, made her way inside, and tried to ignore the burning feeling of dread in her stomach as she joined the table.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"All I'm saying," Fred said, raising his voice over the chatter of the room, "is if Ron had been chosen to be champion instead of Hermione, he would be dragon dung by now."

"Very true," George chimed in, passing a plate of pumpkin pie to Lupin's outstretched hands. "To be honest, I'm surprised the Goblet didn't vomit the moment Ron put his name into it."

Ron's ears reddened as the twins cackled and clinked their goblets. Mrs Weasley tutted disapprovingly and waved her wand, causing both twins to grab their mouths as their lips magically sealed shut.

"There, that's better," Mrs Weasley said, pocketing her wand and offering more treacle tart to Kingsley. George tried in vain to push his pumpkin pie through his lips, resulting in the orange mash smearing over his face.

The sitting room was packed to the brim with people; laughter and the scrapping of knives and forks filling the air.

Lupin, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley and Mundungus had all arrived in the early evening for Christmas dinner and, with the entire Weasley family, Harry and Hermione in the room, it was a rather tight fit.

A fire crackled in the corner and was making the room uncomfortably stuffy. Crookshanks lay stretched out in front of it, his belly only inches from the flickering flames.

Hermione was wedged between Harry and Ginny and was having extreme difficulty using her utensils as her elbows were tucked so tightly by her sides. She tried to elbow Ginny multiple times to make more room but Ginny, who was so deeply invested in Tonks' story about her latest tussle with a Death Eater, barely noticed.

Hermione listened in as she struggled to scrape some mousse onto her spoon.

"And then," Tonks said, waving her fork pointedly in the air, causing pie to flick across the table, "I grabbed him by the collar, slammed him against the wall and demanded he tell me his name. Kid was whimpering and crying, think he might've peed himself a little. He pulls up his sleeve and rubs off his Dark Mark tattoo. Little prick thought it was a joke. Before I could tell him off, Moody knocked him out cold with a _slightly _overzealous Stunning spell."

"He deserved it too," Moody muttered, reaching into his side pocket for his flask. "Wasting our time like that when there are a hundred other dark wizards we could be chasing."

"Ah, come on Alistair," Mr Weasley interrupted, "it's Christmas, let's not talk about dark wizards, just for one day?"

Moody grunted and popped the top off of the flask. He took a deep swig as his magical blue eye spun wildly in its socket.

Hermione watched it uneasily until it stopped suddenly and stared directly at her. She quickly glanced back down to her half-eaten dessert as Moody leant forward onto one of his elbows.

"How's the tournament going? Worked out the clue for the second task yet?" He asked.

She knew he was trying to be friendly, but his rasping, scratchy voice always had an air of interrogation in it.

"Good," she replied, trying to keep her tone even. "I haven't worked it out yet but… but I think I'm nearly there."

She continued to avoid Moody's eye hoping that he wouldn't see through her unconvincing lie.

'You'll want to get onto that," he growled. "You think you have time and then suddenly, BANG-"

Moody slammed his hand on the table causing Bill to jump so violently that his pie crust toppled off of his fork and onto the floor. Crookshanks slunk over, happily devouring the unexpected treat.

"-you'll be out of time!" Moody finished, fixing Hermione with a piercing stare.

"Oh, come on Alastair," Tonks sighed as she scraped her fork around her plate to round up the scraps of cream, "The second task is, what, two months away? She's got _forever _to figure it out."

Hermione smiled gratefully at Tonks. Moody let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You don't think her competitors have already worked it out and are practising their strategies daily? Do you remember who her competition is? You and I both know what the second task involves, and it is not something that can be done successfully on a whim!"

"Now, now," Mrs Weasley hastily interrupted, tapping Moody lightly on his arm. "No spoilers, Albus was very clear about this."

"Of course, of course," Moody grumbled. He turned to engage Bill in conversation, but Ron quickly chimed in.

"You're right though," he said, drawing Moody's attention back. "Did you see the way Fleur Delacour dealt with that dragon in the first task? I bet she's worked out the clue already."

Butterflies erupted into Hermione's stomach at Fleur's name as she tried not to look too interested in Moody's answer. Her mind flittered to the galleon that she had forced herself to stow back in the drawer in Ginny's room.

"Of course she has!" Moody barked. "I would be surprised if she hadn't! She comes from a clever family, though I stand by my recommendation that she shouldn't have been allowed to enter in the first place."

The butterflies stopped as abruptly as they had come.

"What do you mean, recommendation?" Hermione asked, cutting off Ron who had opened his mouth to reply.

"Alastair ran the background checks," Lupin said, leaning forward to come into Hermione's view.

Most of the table were now listening curiously to their conversation as Mrs Weasley waved her wand to make the plates clean. Only Charlie and Mundungus were continuing what appeared to be a heated conversation about the legalities around the use of dragon hide in potions.

"Must we talk about this again," Tonks sighed. She glanced sympathetically at Hermione as Moodys eyes lit up.

"We haven't heard the full story before," Ginny replied eagerly, leaning forward in her seat to give Moody her full attention. Hermione felt a pang of annoyance at Ginny's clear excitement, but her own curiosity was also peaked.

Moody glanced at Kingsley who was slowly twirling one of his large gold rings around his finger. They made eye contact for a moment, before Kingsley gave a small shrug. Moody turned back toward Hermione.

"Remus is correct. I was tasked with the job of running the background checks on the foreign students selected to come to Hogwarts," Moody began, pocketing his hip flask so he could use his hands for added effect. "That included doing a check on their family history as well. Can't have any known children of dark wizards coming into your school."

Ginny, Ron and Harry made noises of agreeance. Hermione stayed silent.

"A lot from Durmstrang got eliminated," Moody continued. "A few from Ilvermorny. That was all to be expected. Some managed to slip through the cracks on insistence from their headmaster that they were being unfairly discriminated against."

A vision of Mikhail swam to the front of Hermione's memory, but she quickly cast it aside.

"Get to the good stuff!" Fred exclaimed. Mrs Weasley waved her wand again to re-seal his lips.

"I'm getting there boy, I'm getting there," Moody snapped, clearly enjoying the dramatic effect of his story. "I wasn't expecting to find much on the Beauxbatons students. I've run background checks on that school before and the worst thing that usually comes up is tax evasion."

A murmur of laughter went around the table.

"But," Moody continued, lowering his voice slightly. "Then a familiar name stuck out to me. _Delacour."_

Hermione unconsciously leant forward at the name. She sensed those around her do the same.

"I knew I had heard it somewhere before," Moody said, lowering his voice further, "I knew it had been part of a big case. I just couldn't quite put my finger on what it was…"

"That's where I came in!" Tonks chimed in excitedly, quickly forgetting her disinterest in the story from moments earlier. "Alastair came to me for help and I remembered immediately where the name came from!"

"This is my story!" Moody snapped.

"I'm part of it too, I found out what the link was!"

"Something I would have discovered within minutes once I looked at the history of-"

"Excuse me," Ginny interrupted loudly as Tonks and Moody continued to squabble. "Can one of you tell us what the hell the connection was?"

"Yes," Tonks said quickly. Moody's scarred face wrinkled as he glared at her. "Alastair asked me if I knew the name and I recognised it immediately. I had been shadowing this French Auror when I was an intern at the Ministry and he had told me all about the case as it happened. He took a great interest in it because it was so peculiar. Well, the case wasn't really, but the culprit was. Amandine Delacour."

Hermione bristled slightly at the name and noticed Ginny glance in her direction. She evaded her eye.

"Amandine went to Durmstrang," Moody continued. "She was a high achiever, popular, captain of her Quidditch team. She makes Fleur look like an imbecile, and I _know _how smart that girl is. No red flags at all."

"She's not the usual suspect for the things she did," Tonks tagged in. "No one knew that she had been secretly mingling with a certain group of students."

"Students whose parents had been devout Grindelwald followers. Or should I say, _are _Grindelwald followers," Moody growled.

"These students had been raised in homes that worshipped Grindelwald and they sympathised with his message. They think that he was unfairly portrayed in the media and that Dumbledore cheated in the dual."

"Which is ridiculous."

"Ridiculous!"

"So what happened next?" Harry said impatiently.

"Amandine and this group planned to break Grindelwald out of Nurmengard, the prison in northern Europe. They devised a plot a few weeks out from graduation and it was a damn good one too," Tonks replied.

"But news of their plan started to leak through Durmstrang and soon it came to the attention of the authorities," Moody said. "One of the students had a mother in the Bulgarian Ministry who she told about it. On the night that Amandine and the group were set to free Grindelwald, the Ministry gathered around Nurmengard prison to catch them-"

"-but it was a ruse," Tonks finished in a hushed tone.

Ron and Ginny let out a small _oooh. _Hermione realised that her hands had become clammy.

Mundungus and Charlie had now stopped their conversation to listen. All ears were on the reminiscing Aurors.

"Amandine had heard that their plans had been foiled, so she leaked a fake date," Tonks continued. "The Ministry's presence was so high at Nurmengard and on the gates of Durmstrang, that the security _inside _of Durmstrang was weakened. The Bulgarian Ministry was still recovering from when You-Know-Who invaded them just before his death, so they couldn't cover both sufficiently. It's believed that You-Know-Who thought Grindelwald possessed some kind of special wand that he wanted information on. No one could give him any, so he murdered the lot of them."

"Anyway," Moody continued. "Freeing Grindelwald was out of the question, so they changed tact. They decided the next best thing was to punish those who spoke out against him, those who believed the fake media, and those who had leaked their plans to the Ministry."

"They punished the girl who told her mum about it?" Ron asked.

"Exactly," Moody replied. "Except she was a strong witch and they knew they would never crack her through using magic alone. So instead of physical pain, they decided to inflict emotional pain."

"They captured her family?" Harry asked quietly. Moody shook his head.

"Close. They captured her and three of her friends," Tonks continued. "They tortured the friends within an inch of their lives and made her watch. They took particular distaste to the Muggleborn in the group, claiming she had stolen her magic and that people like her didn't deserve to be there. Spouting the same bullshit that Grindelwald used to say."

"Scum," Moody grunted.

"But they got caught, right?" Ginny asked.

"Eventually," Tonks replied. "The Ministry caught on that they weren't actually going to Nurmengard and hurried to the school. They found Amandine and her group in the dungeons, surrounded by three unconscious bodies and a traumatised girl. The three friends were rushed to hospital and two of them recovered. The Muggleborn died."

Ginny let out a small gasp. Hermione was frozen to the spot.

"A couple of years later, two of the victims were admitted into St Mungo's psychiatric ward," Moody said in a hollow voice. "They were never the same. The last one quietly graduated and now works for the Bulgarian Ministry."

A heavy silence filled the room. Hermione clenched her teeth to stop tears from clouding her eyes.

"But… you said this case was peculiar," Ginny said in a small voice.

"Amandine Delacour was not supposed to walk this path," Kingsley replied, causing all eyes to swivel to him. Moody and Tonks leant back in their seats, looking morose.

"When you hear of a young witch or wizard doing this, there are usually clear markers why. Growing up in an abusive household, gang initiation, desperation. But Amandine was none of these things. She came from extreme wealth, a powerful family, was highly educated, and had even been shoulder-tapped to graduate early so she could join the Ministry sooner. But she turned her back on these paths and instead chose the complete opposite. We don't know why."

"She was trialled in the Bulgarian courts as a minor even though she had just turned 17," Tonks added. "Her lawyer argued that the plotting for her crime had begun when she was 16 and her "brain wasn't fully developed". It was rubbish. To make things worse, due to her family's status and the fact that she had "a bright future ahead of her", she received a measly sentence."

"Her family claimed that she had simply fallen in with the wrong crowd at Durmstrang, that if they could take her back to France they could set her back on the right path," Kingsley finished.

"But she killed someone!" Harry protested.

"You're not hearing us, Potter," Moody growled. "She comes from a powerful family. They have connections and she was unfairly tried as a minor. There was outrage at Durmstrang when news broke that her sentence was going to be house arrest in France. Especially since the gang that she did it with were all sentenced to prison time."

Hermione's mind flickered back to the night the foreign schools arrived at Hogwarts; at the looks of disgust many Durmstrang students directed toward Fleur. Her stomach sank as Harry's voice pulled her back to the present conversation.

"But that's so unfair-" Harry began but Moody cut him off.

"Of course it was unfair! She came from wealth and her little gang did not. As we mentioned, they had parents who were known Grindelwald supporters and the Ministry hated them. The Delacours, on the other hand, were well respected and had a few Ministry officials in their pockets. Amandine was whisked back to France and put under house arrest for two years. She is still being monitored by the Ministry, though recent reports have shown that she is quite elusive."

The table fell into silence once again. Hermione's brain was whirring.

_Why didn't Fleur tell me about this? Was she scared that I would assume she was going down the same path?_

The fire crackled and popped loudly as Mrs Weasley stood to gather everyone's plates, bustling loudly to make up for the silence around the table.

"So that's why you didn't think Fleur should have been allowed to come to Hogwarts?" Ginny finally asked.

"Of course not! Moody barked, and Ginny's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "She shouldn't be punished for something her sister did 7 years ago."

"But then… why-"

The orange light from the fire flickered across Moody's face as he tilted his head.

"I recommended that Fleur not be able to come to Hogwarts because there is strong evidence that Amandine has become a Death Eater."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione hugged herself for warmth as she watched a snowflake lazily fall onto the thick snow covered ground in front of her. She leant against the side of The Burrow, the cold Galleon biting into her palm as she gripped it tightly.

A burst of laughter came from inside, growing louder as the door next to her opened wide enough for someone to slip out. The figure leant on the wall next to Hermione.

"Do you mind?" Tonks asked, holding up a purple pipe and nodding towards it. Hermione shook her head.

Tonks lit the tip of the pipe with her wand and wispy lime green smoke began to float upwards. She brought the pipe to her lips taking a deep breath, holding it a moment, and then exhaling. Smoke poured out of her nostrils, mouth and ears.

"It's a menthol," Tonks said defensively at Hermione's arched eyebrow. Hermione smiled weakly and turned back to staring into the darkness of the yard. Tonks shifted from foot to foot.

"So do you want to talk about what's up?" Tonks said after a moment. "You got up from the table pretty quickly after the Delacour story and darted upstairs like your life depended on it. Didn't even realise you had snuck outside."

"Just needed to ask someone something," Hermione replied, showing the Galleon to Tonks. Tonks leant forward, using the light pouring through the door next to them to read what it said.

_Fleur, we need to talk. Before we get back to Hogwarts. It's urgent._

Tonks inclined her head slightly but didn't seem surprised.

"You're close with the Delacour girl, aren't you?"

"You could say that."

"Just friends, or…?"

Hermione glanced at Tonks who had a knowing smile on her face. Hermione chewed on her words for a moment.

"I don't know."

Tonks nodded and took another puff of the pipe. The lime green smoke had now turned olive.

"I knew something was going on between you two the night you got drunk at that party and she was helping you back to the common room and I sprung you."

"We weren't anything then."

"Didn't have to be. My job is basically to be a detective, Hermione. Body language, facial expressions, energies, I'm an expert in it. I picked it from a mile away. Didn't mean I was thrilled about it, but hey, we can't control who we fall in love with."

Hermione scoffed.

"You're the second person today who's claimed I'm in love with Fleur. I'm not!"

Tonks observed her for a moment before sticking the pipe between her teeth and turning to stare into the darkness. Snowflakes had begun to fall thickly now.

A shiver ran over Hermione when suddenly the coin grew hot in her palm.

Her stomach flipped as she quickly read Fleur's reply.

_Send me your address._

"Oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed, suddenly in a panic. She didn't even expect Fleur to reply let alone to see her now!?

"What?" Tonks said, snatching the coin from Hermione's grip. Her eyebrows rose slightly. "Huh, it's a Christmas miracle."

Before Hermione could react, Tonks quickly spoke the coordinates to the coin and tapped it with her wand to send the message.

"NO!" Hermione shouted, snatching the coin from Tonks. "Why did you do that! I could've just met up with her in Hogsmeade before we went back to school!"

"Rather sort it out than wait a few more days, right?" Tonks said matter of factly.

"But… but look how I'm dressed!"

Tonks smiled appreciatively at the Christmas sweater Hermione was wearing which sported a picture of a curious Niffler on the front.

"You look great. I know she's French but surely she has a sense of humour."

The coin grew hot in Hermione's hand again and she quickly read the message.

"She's going to be here in two minutes," Hermione groaned, spinning to look at her reflection in the glass panels of the door.

"Alright, what's the game plan?" Tonks replied, stowing her pipe into her jacket and rubbing her hands excitedly.

Hermione frantically combed her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know, ask about Amandine, I guess? Ask her what she's been hiding? Ask her how her breaks been? I don't know!"

Tonks placed both hands on either side of Hermione's shoulders and shook her slightly.

"Hey, calm down," she said softly and Hermione paused. "Try and keep a clear head, get through the fluffy stuff first and then get to the tough stuff okay?"

Hermione's shoulders slumped.

"But what if it's true and she never told me," Hermione said quietly. "What if she deliberately hid it from me? I'm scared to ask the question because of the answer. I'm even more scared that I don't care what the answer is."

Tonks smiled sympathetically.

"We let those we love get away with more than they should. The only way you're going to find out is to ask the person who knows. Until then, you'll just make up stories in your head."

Tonks released Hermione's shoulders and took a thoughtful inhale of the pipe, the smoke now black as it poured out of her ears.

"Naturally, I don't like her because she was rude to me that one time," Tonks continued, "but if I know anything it's to not judge someone on their family's history. Look at my aunts, Bellatrix and Narcissa! Horrific, both of them. But my mum's an angel and I'm not so bad myself."

Hermione let out a small laugh and Tonks winked at her.

"Trust your gut. Take off your rose-tinted glasses. I'm sure she's great, but you're spectacular and you deserve the best."

A _crack _filled the air and Hermione spotted a lean figure with silvery hair standing at the fence. Tonks nodded and made for the door.

"I'll keep all of them inside, the poor girl doesn't need to deal with Mundungus once he's had a few drinks. Or, well, ever really."

Tonks re-entered The Burrow, closing the door softly behind her.

Hermione took a deep breath, the cold air making her teeth ache, as she made her way towards the figure.

Her boots sunk into the snow, and she began to regret not wearing a coat as the snowflakes found their way through the wool of her sweater. A conversation in her head raged

_Okay, just say hi. Light chat and then ask the serious questions. No distractions, I mean, she's barely spoken to me all break it sounds like she's done with me anyway. Well, if she's going to play games then this isn't right because- oh fuck._

Hermione's mind went blank as her eyes fell on Fleur.

She was leaning casually against the gate, her fixed gaze on Hermione.

She wore an expensive black looking coat with a loose white blouse, tight black jeans and boots to match. A light blue travelling cloak draped across her shoulders and her hair fell in waves on top of it. She had light makeup on and expensive looking earrings that dangled along her jawline.

Hermione stopped a couple of feet in front of her, not sure which words to say.

Fleur's eyes darted to the Niffler on Hermione's sweatshirt. A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips causing Hermione to blush.

"You can apparate?" Hermione blurted out, instantly chastising herself for the awkward opener. Fleur nodded.

"Not legally, but yes."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but Fleur cut across her.

"Why is there no security around this house?"

"Er, what?"

Fleur gestured toward The Burrow.

"I could apparate here without anything stopping me. Do you not think this is dangerous? You are with Harry, no?"

Hermione stiffened at the mention of his name.

"Once you're past that gate, no one can apparate in or out. The only reason you can see this house is because a Secret Keeper sent the coordinates," she replied coldly. "Why are you so interested if I'm with Harry anyway?"

Fleur frowned slightly at her tone before pulling her cloak tightly around herself. The heavy snow above was starting to slick down her hair.

"I cannot stay long, I have to get back," she said in a clipped voice, ignoring Hermione's question.

"Oh, okay," Hermione replied lamely. Fleur's expression softened slightly as she closed the distance between them, kissing Hermione on either cheek. The faint smell of red wine lingered, and Fleur's sleeve rode up to show a bright red stamp on her wrist.

"Oh, you were out," Hermione said apologetically. "This could have waited, I mean, I thought we could meet in Hogsmeade on the way back to Hogwarts or… something."

"No, it is best to do this now."

Hermione looked at Fleur perplexedly as Fleur nodded toward the rickety shed next to the chicken coop.

"Let's go in there," she said and began to stride across the yard, her boots sinking into the deep snow as she walked. Hermione paused before following.

_She doesn't know why I asked to talk to her, what does she have to talk about that's so urgent?_

Hermione's stomach sank slightly at the thought.

Fleur held the door open for her and glanced behind them as they entered. The falling snowflakes were the only thing disrupting the otherwise still yard.

The shed was crammed with both Muggle and magical artifacts; most of which Hermione was quite sure Mrs Weasley didn't know about. An old lawnmower laid taken apart next to them and Fleur had to awkwardly manoeuvre around it to avoid touching Hermione.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" Fleur asked her gaze on a spider dangling from the roof. A precariously balanced rake tumbled to the ground as she turned in the tight space to face Hermione.

Hermione frowned slightly. She didn't need to be an Auror to understand this body language; arms tightly crossed, no eye contact, leaning away. Fleur couldn't look more disinterested if she tried.

"Um, how has your break been?" Hermione asked.

"Busy."

"Have you been travelling?"

"A bit."

"Where have you go-"

"I thought you had something urgent you needed to discuss," Fleur cut across sharply. She glared at the spider which was swaying lazily on a web thread.

Hermione bristled at the harsh tone.

"Okay, let's cut the pleasantries then, have I done something to piss you off?" Hermione asked, keeping her voice even.

"What? No, of course not."

"Then what's going on? You haven't spoken to me all break and now… this."

Hermione gestured up and down Fleur's tense body.

"I am here, aren't I?" Fleur retorted. Hermione waited for further conversation but it didn't come.

"Just because you've shown up now doesn't mean I don't deserve an explanation? I get if you've been busy, but it takes two minutes to reply to my message and it's not like I'm asking you to message all day, maybe just once or twice or-"

"I do not want to do this anymore."

The words cut through Hermione. Her ears rang slightly as she stared at Fleur, who still refused to meet her eye.

"It is too difficult, there is too much… going on," Fleur continued. "Plus, we are competitors, it does not look good."

Hermione gaped at her for a moment before finding her voice.

"That never bothered you before."

"Yes, well, I have changed my mind.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

"You owe me a better explanation than that," Hermione said heatedly, taking a step forward. "Where has this come from? Is it because of what happened with Tess? Yeah, I was pissed when it happened but I got over it!"

"No, it has nothing to do with Tess. I just think this will not work in the long term."

Hermione could feel anger sparking up inside her now. Where was this coming from?

"Are you being serious?" Hermione snapped and Fleur's eyes narrowed slightly. "After everything we've been through? After all of that and _now _you don't think it's working? Where has this- look at me!"

Fleur's eyes snapped onto Hermione's and the effect was instant. Electricity sparked between them as their gaze met and it took everything in Hermione to stay focused.

Fleur swallowed deeply and Hermione's eyes flicked down to the glowing skin of her throat.

"A week ago you're making this elaborate plan at the Yule Ball to surprise me," Hermione continued, her voice wavering slightly as she stared at the pale skin. "And now suddenly it's too much? What's going on?"

"People stop seeing each other all the time," Fleur retorted, her eyes darting back to stare at the spider once more. "It is just too hard with everything. You need to respect my choice."

Hermione blanched slightly as she felt the hot anger bubbling in her stomach continue to grow.

"You haven't even explained your choice, how the fuck am I supposed to respect it!?" she snapped, her voice starting to rise. Fleur crossed her arms and leant against the cool tin wall.

Silence hung heavily between them. Hermione raised her eyebrows expectedly, waiting for a reply.

Fleur began to play with the golden bracelets that clung to her wrists looking everywhere but at Hermione once again.

The small window behind Fleur's head grew white as the snowfall began to thicken.

"What's happened?" Hermione finally asked. "Don't say nothing because I know that's a lie. You haven't spoken to me all break and given me no reason why. We were friends before all of this. If anything, speak to me as one."

Fleur began to chew the inside of her cheek. Her eyes flickered toward the door before she sighed and sunk her hands into her pockets.

"It is Amandine," she finally said, the hostility leaving her voice for the first time. Hermione's eyes snapped up to meet a soft gaze and the air around them seemed to tighten. "She came back for Christmas break and she knows everything about you Hermione. Everything."

"Well, being Harry's friend means that information isn't hard to fi-"

"No," Fleur cut across her. "Hermione, she knows where you live, your parents' names, where they work, where you had your schooling before Hogwarts, what your best friend's name was when you were five, _everything_. She took great joy in my reaction when she told me. Somehow she found out that I was seeing you even though we have told no one."

Hermione's head was spinning. She leant against a nearby shelf to steady herself.

"Tess?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself but Fleur shook her head.

"That was my first thought too. I called Tess to ask and though she was upset at me, she would never do that. She… loves me too much to hurt me like that."

Hermione's mind cleared and she couldn't stop herself from letting out a tut of annoyance. Colour filled Fleur's cheeks at the sound.

"What happened to "We're just friends""? Hermione said sarcastically. Fleur raised an eyebrow as the sound of the snow hitting the roof began to grow louder.

"We are just friends," Fleur replied coolly. "I have told you a thousand times now. I cannot control what she feels."

Fleur ran her fingers through her hair.

"Amandine did not explicitly threaten me but she got her message across," she continued, awkwardly sidestepping the Tess argument that was brewing. "She does not want me dating you and, if I continue, there will be consequences."

"And does Amandine also tell you what time to eat as well?" Hermione replied coolly. "Since when does she decide every move you make in your life? She's your sister, not your keeper."

"This is not a game!" Fleur snapped and Hermione felt anger start to rise up her throat again. "She is well connected to very dangerous people, you seem to think that I am just a coward who is scared to stand up to my sister, but there is more to it than that!"

"Enlighten me then!"

"She is a Death Eater, Hermione!"

The reply stopped in Hermione's throat as tears glistened in Fleur's eyes. Fleur threw up her hands, accidentally knocking a precariously placed Mandrake pot from the windowsill next to her. It toppled to the ground and smashed at her feet.

"My parents have coddled her her whole life!" Fleur continued, waving her wand to repair the broken pot before kicking it to the side where it smashed against the wall. She took no notice.

"They let her get away with murder last time and they will let her do it again, do you not see? Perfect Amandine just needed some guidance to get back on the right track, just needed to be under the watchful eye of our parents, _no!_"

Fleur squatted down and balled her hands into fists in her hair. Teardrops fell steadily onto the grey concrete under her. She shook slightly as the snow grew heavier to sound like hail on the roof.

"I am tainted by the curse of having her as my family," Fleur continued weakly. "Your family, your friends, they will not accept you seeing someone like me. And now she has proudly claimed the title of Death Eater without a care for how she will once again ruin our lives. It is dangerous having me in your life and an unnecessary risk. I do not blame people for hating us, I would warn anyone against my family, too."

Fleur grew silent.

Hermione moved forward without thinking, kneeling next to Fleur and gently taking her hands from her hair. Fleur looked up, her mascara slightly smudged and her faces shining with tears.

"I feel like I'm going crazy," she whispered, another tear spilling from her eye. "I can't control anything in my life. I can't keep everyone safe. My parents, my friends, you. She ruins everything. I don't know what to do."

"This isn't all on your shoulders," Hermione said gently as she linked her fingers through Fleur's.

"No one is taking it seriously since she does not have the Dark Mark yet. They think she is just a fanatic, even though her obsessions have led her to do horrible things before. The French Ministry is meant to be tracking her, but she has been leaving France daily with no consequence. They are all in her pocket. I am the only one who sees how dangerous she is."

Fleur clenched Hermione's hand tightly and Hermione couldn't help her own eyes welling up in sympathy.

"You're not alone, I'm here," Hermione whispered, tilting Fleur's chin up so their eyes could meet. "I already kind of knew she was a Death Eater. Yes, it's terrifying and yes we'll have to figure it out but we can do it. She doesn't get to rule your life Fleur, and you can't keep punishing yourself for things out of your control. You don't have to live under her cloud that never stops raining. I want to be with you, through all of this, we can do this together."

Fleur's eyes searched Hermione's face, a look crossing them that Hermione had never seen before.

"Let me help you," Hermione pleaded.

Fleur tilted her head slightly.

"I have a better idea," she replied softly. "Make me forget."

Before Hermione could speak Fleur leant forward, placing her hands on Hermione's face and pulling her into a deep kiss.

Hermione took a moment to register what was happening before she leant forward to try to touch Fleur in return. She lost her balance slightly, but Fleur stood gracefully, shifting her hand to Hermione's sides to gently pull Hermione up with her.

Fleur walked backwards, never breaking their kiss until she was leaning against the cold wall of the shed, Hermione snaking her arm around her lower back as they deepened their kiss. Fleur's lips were impossibly soft as she moved them with expertise; switching between kisses that lasted mere moments as they softly pressed against Hermione's, to firmer more wanting kisses that held them together for what could have been eternities.

Hermione's mind was so blank it nearly hurt as she pulled Fleur as close as possible, wanting their bodies to touch and align like they were part of the same being.

Fleur broke their kiss for a moment, panting slightly as she kissed along Hermione's jaw, reaching her neck. She left long lingering kisses before placing her hand on one side of Hermione's neck, her fingers slightly cold, and biting hard on the other side. Hermione's gasp turned into a moan as the pain turned quickly to pleasure and she clenched her hand into a fist that twisted Fleur's shirt.

Hermione's knuckles were cold against the tin of the shed, though she could feel herself growing hotter by the second. She paused slightly before sliding her hands under Fleur's shirt, feeling the curve of Fleur's spine as her hands explored.

Hermione had never felt like this before, she never knew she could want somebody so badly, never thought she would be able to touch someone like this and for it never to be enough. It was intoxicating, addictive, she would do anything for the woman she was holding so tightly against her. Nothing mattered but the two of them at this moment.

Fleur let out a soft moan into their kiss and Hermione pulled her in closer, involuntarily lifting up Fleur's shirt so her stomach was slightly exposed. She wanted to touch every part of her soft skin, show her how much she wanted her, how perfect they were together.

Hermione let her hands slide from Fleur's back to her stomach, feeling Fleur's muscles in her abdomen tighten slightly to her touch.

Fleur stopped Hermione's right hand. Hermione pulled back to ask if she went too far as Fleur leant forward, her lips so close to Hermione's ear that her breath tickled it slightly. Fleur guided Hermione's hand down to her waistband and whispered,

"_Touch me."_

Hermione let out a soft moan as all sense left her brain. She clenched Fleur's waistband and pulled it toward her until their hips were pushed together. Hermione's fingers were numb as she reached for the button, twisting it slightly until it became undone. Fleur shivered at Hermione's cold touch against the sensitive lower area of her stomach, and Hermione paused.

The snow attacking the roof above her suddenly became noticeable again as the first thought in minutes slid across her mind.

_I haven't done this before._

Fleur noticed the stop in momentum and pulled her into another kiss as she placed her hand over Hermione's, inching it below her waistband, encouraging her to keep going.

Hermione broke the kiss and looked into Fleur's confused eyes.

"N-not in here," Hermione said, trying to control her breathing as she placed her hands on Fleur's hips. "I don't want our first time to be in… Ron Weasley's shed."

"Why does it matter?" Fleur replied breathlessly. The words stung a little more than Hermione thought they would.

"Because it's our first time and… my first time," Hermione stammered. "Let's go somewhere else, can we go to your place?"

Fleur looked at Hermione incredulously. She paused briefly before pulling back and buttoning up her jeans.

"My place, Hermione?" she responded in disbelief. "After what I _just _told you about Amandine!? I knew you were not taking this seriously!"

Hermione was stunned. She tried to gently pull Fleur back toward her, but Fleur resisted. The window behind her was completely fogged up, though the temperature between them suddenly grew cold.

"My mind isn't really working at the moment, I just forgot," Hermione replied defensively. "Take it easy."

"Well I never forget, Hermione. This is my life all the time. You say you understand it but you do not."

Fleur aggressively wrapped her cloak around herself and checked her watch. "I have to go."

Fleur made to walk past Hermione but Hermione quickly stepped in front of the door.

"Hey, hey, hey," Hermione said quickly. "You don't just get to storm off every time you're upset, you have to give me a chance. Are you seriously leaving right now?"

"There is nothing to talk about, so yes," Fleur snapped. "I already told you, we cannot do this."

"You literally just asked me to fuck you," Hermione retorted. "And now you're telling me we're breaking up?"

"We were never together, there is nothing to break up," Fleur replied coldly. A pang struck Hermione's heart as Fleur yanked the door open.

The snow outside had turned into a blizzard. A few yellow lights of The Burrow shone weakly through the white haze with the entire yard indistinguishable under a blanket of snow.

Fleur lit her wand as she stomped her way through the knee-deep snow toward the gate.

Hermione's brain whirred back into gear and she braced herself against the storm as she kicked the door of the shed before it could swing shut.

"HEY!" she shouted, her voice louder than the storm around them. She caught up to Fleur, grabbing her shoulder to spin her around. "You're giving me whiplash with how back and forth you are on this. You need to talk to me!"

"I have told you my decision," Fleur yelled back as the wind swirled around them. "You are not taking this seriously and I refuse to put your life in danger."

"Stop treating me like I'm a child, I know how to look after myself!"

"You do not know what she is capable of and I am not going to let you find out!"

Fleur turned and began to walk back through the snow, her boots sinking so deeply into it that her movements seemed like slow motion.

"You know what, you _are _a coward!" Hermione yelled, surprised at the words coming from her own mouth.

Fleur paused, her cloak flapping wildly in the wind.

"You know what we have is special and you're too scared to even try!" Hermione continued, her voice cracking slightly. More lights flicked on from The Burrow in the near distance and shadows began to move behind the curtains.

"Your whole life people have left you once they found out your family's history and so you push them away before they can get close enough to hurt you! But I know it all and I'm still here and you're _still _too scared to try! That's not you looking out for me, that's you being a coward!"

Fleur stayed motionless.

Fury filled Hermione, but she couldn't help the hope that also swelled in her chest telling her she was finally getting through Fleur's armour.

Voices sounded out behind Hermione and wands shone as the door of The Burrow flew open. Hermione glanced at them before turning back to the still figure in front of her.

"I'm not going to leave you," Hermione continued, not caring about the audience forming behind her. "I've seen who you are Fleur and you're so beautiful. You make me better when I'm with you. It's like you're waiting for me to say you're too much but you never will be. I can't get enough of you."

Fleur slowly began to turn, vulnerable blue eyes peeking at her and Hermione's heart thawed.

The girls stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the next move. And in that moment, Hermione knew. Harry and Tonks had been right. She opened her mouth when suddenly a barely audible voice rang out behind her.

"Hermione?" Lupin shouted. "Are you okay? Who are you with?"

Fleur's eyes quickly darted toward the swelling group.

"It's okay," Hermione said to Fleur. "Tonks knows I'm with you, she'll calm them down."

But the voices behind her suddenly grew more panicked and Hermione became uneasy.

Fleur's eyes narrowed defensively as their voices rose. Many wands were lit and the snow around Fleur was illuminated.

"Wait, is that the Delacour girl?" Moody barked, holding his wand higher to cast the light further. Fleur's face dropped and Hermione quickly turned to the group.

"Go back inside, it's just Fleur!" She yelled at them, flapping her hands, but the storm was too loud and the direction of the wind snatched her voice away.

"She's waving for help! Harry, get behind me!" Hermione heard Kingsley's voice say faintly, stepping in front of Harry as he held his wand steady. "Hermione, is it Fleur or Amandine? How did they get here? Are the Death Eaters coming!?"

Fleur looked at Hermione in fear as the group began to quickly trudge through the snow toward them. Fleur yelped as a spell suddenly came sailing toward her, missing her by inches as she dove to the right.

"Fleur, it's okay!" Hermione yelled. "I'll explain it to them, just wait!"

But Fleur wasn't listening.

Another spell darted at her, which she parried at the last minute. It ricochet into the chicken coop, causing it to burst open as dozens of chickens clucked hysterically.

Fleur tried to regain her footing on the slippery surface beneath her as she stumbled toward the gate. The snowstorm provided useful cover as the group blindly threw spells into the white haze, guessing where their fleeing assailant may be.

Fleur submitted to a crouching position, making her movement in the snow even slower, only metres away from being able to apparate now. Hermione was breathing heavily as she trudged through the snow after her.

"Stop!" she yelled hopelessly, not sure whether to direct it at Fleur or the oncoming group.

"This is what I meant," Fleur yelled back, as she dodged another spell. It hit the ground next to her, splaying snow everywhere. "We cannot work! The people in your world know the danger I bring, they will never accept me!"

"They think you're your sister!"

"It does not matter!"

Hermione took another step but her foot sank into an unexpected hole, trapping her to the spot.

"Fleur, just wait!" Hermione called, trying desperately to free her limb.

"Leave me alone!" Fleur yelled. The group was closing in as Fleur pumped her legs furiously toward the gate.

Hermione's attention was suddenly caught by the door to The Burrow opening again.

Tonks ran through, waving her arms and shouting. The oncoming group had their backs to her though and the growing wind muddled Tonks' words.

"I can't tell who it is," Hermione heard Moody's voice boom in their direction. "Everyone, stunning spells!"

Fleur shouted as a shower of spells came toward her, throwing up a shield charm that the spells smashed into. She fell backwards, inches away from the threshold of the gate.

"Do you see, now?!" Fleur yelled angrily as the group raised their wands for the next attack.

"They're just making sure I'm safe!" Hermione answered lamely, still tugging her foot.

"And they will never think you are while you are with me!"

Fleur scrambled backwards over the boundary of the gate, slashing her wand to raise another shield charm just in time for the attacking spells to batter it. She rose on unsteady feet as snow fell from her coat, a snarl plastered across her face.

Hermione had never seen Fleur look so humiliated.

"If you have any respect for me," Fleur shouted over the howling wind, "You will not speak to me again, so I am not subjected to crawling on my hands and knees to get away from your friends attacking me!"

Hermione felt tears streaming down her cheeks as Fleur furiously wiped her own eyes.

"Fleur, please!" Hermione yelled in a last ditch effort. "I love y-"

Fleur slashed her wand and a spell hit Hermione hard in the chest. Her foot dislodged and she went flying backwards into a mound of snow. The group yelled in surprise, changing direction and moving toward the Stunned Hermione.

"Do not say something you cannot take back!" Fleur's voice echoed across the yard.

Moody sent another spell toward Fleur but it landed on plain snow as, with a _crack_, she was gone.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Wow, I've been truely blown away by the reviews and PM's from the last chapter! I thought ya'll would be long gone by now, and now to hear that multiple people have re-read this story from the start is amazing. I really appreciate all your kind words!**

**The last chapter was the catalyst for a few things for Hermione. This chapter starts to explore them. I'm enjoying writing her as she becomes more comfortable within herself and acknowledges her worth. She is RECLAIMING HER TIME and I'm here for it. Happy reading!**

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Are you going to finish your bacon?" Harry asked.

Hermione didn't hear him as she continued moodily pushing the food around her plate.

She glanced toward the Ravenclaw table on the other side of the hall.

Fleur was sitting with Cedric, watching him tell a story animatedly as she stifled a yawn. It was the first time Fleur had been at a mealtime all month.

"Hello?" Harry said, waving his hand in front of Hermione's face.

"Oh, yeah, you can have it," Hermione replied, pushing her untouched plate toward Harry.

"Mate, come on," he murmured, lowering his voice so the Gryffindor's around them couldn't hear. "It's been a month, and she hasn't said a word to you. How's the egg going?"

The only thing these days that snapped Hermione out of thinking about Fleur was remembering the golden egg that still lay unsolved in her bag. The second task would be upon them within a month, and her anxiety was mounting by the day.

She had taken to carrying the egg with her everywhere, hoping for a moment of inspiration that would suddenly mean she figured out the clue.

It irked her even more that Fleur had worked out the clue months ago.

_She isn't smarter than me, _Hermione would think to herself sourly as she tried and failed for the umpteenth time to solve the clue. _She told me ages ago that she worked it out by mistake._

"Harry, if there were an update, I would have told you about it, okay?!" Hermione snapped. She grabbed her bag from under her feet as the bell rang, standing quickly from the table.

"Well, today feels like it's going to be a great day!" Harry said sarcastically, shoving the last of the bacon into his mouth as students streamed by them.

Fleur and Cedric were part of the crowd, and as they passed the Gryffindor table, Cedric waved cheerily to the pair of them. Fleur kept her gaze fixed ahead, pulling the hood of her robes over her head to obscure her face.

"You'd think she could atleast acknowledge I exist," Hermione said loudly enough for Fleur to hear. Cedric quickly dropped his hand and gave Harry a defeated look. Fleur ignored the lot of them.

Harry and Hermione exited the Great Hall and through the double doors onto the grounds.

It was a frosty January morning, and the students around them were rugged up, battling against the invisible ice that caused the odd person to slip and fall much to the enjoyment of their peers.

Hermione wrapped her scarf around her mouth, still seething. Harry's head drooped as she leant toward him, anticipating the oncoming rant.

"It's just basic disrespect!" Hermione whispered furiously into his ear as they weaved around oncoming students. "I get it, getting chased by a bunch of Auror's is rough, but it was just a misunderstanding! It's not that they hate her, they just thought she was her sister, and so _of_ _course _they're going to attack her! Tonks was in the bathroom when you guys heard us shouting outside, so she didn't have time to tell you guys what was going on! But do you think Fleur would listen when I tried to tell her that!?"

"She sure didn't," Harry said dully.

Krum walked past them, wrapped in the thick furs of his Durmstrang uniform. He raised a gloved hand in greeting and Harry returned it weakly. Krum's dark brow furrowed as Hermione ignored him and continued talking.

"Exactly! And to avoid me like the plague since we've been back to school is just… you know what, it's _immature_," Hermione hissed, accidentally hitting a third year in the face with the hand she was using to emphasise her point. "You would think _she _was the younger one. To walk away from me the moment I try to talk to her is plain rude and once again she's just running from her problems!"

"Absolutely," Harry said, though Hermione wasn't listening.

"Madam Maxime will love this of course," she spat, glaring toward the snow-laden Beauxbatons carriage. "She finally gets what she wants, Fleur not speaking to me and instead focusing on the tournament. Well, this just plays to my advantage as now I don't have a silly girl distracting _me_ from the tournament either! I think I dodged a bullet, to be honest!"

"Not to be unsympathetic," Harry said, his voice wavering as Hermione snapped her head toward him, "but it seems like this has made you more distracted if anything."

"That's ridiculous," Hermione spat, crossing her arms and hugging herself for warmth.

"She's _all_ you talk about," Harry continued, each word sounding like he was waiting for a bomb to go off. "I get it, how she's behaving is unfair. We _all _get it, Hermione. You don't need to chew our ears off about it every second of the day."

"It's not every sec-" Hermione began, but Harry interjected.

"Look, there's Ron!" he said quickly, waving enthusiastically at the slightly perplexed redhead waiting by the greenhouse. Harry hurried toward him, Hermione dragging her feet behind him, wondering whether she should hex Harry while his back was turned.

"I just had the worst morning," Ron huffed as they approached. "Got up at 5am to finish my History of Magic essay, and I realised I mixed the Goblin Revolution of 1796 with the Merperson Revolution of 1976, so now I have to start all over again!"

"Maybe pay attention in class next time," Hermione snapped as the rest of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs lined up behind them.

"Oh good," Ron replied, giving Harry a look. "I was worried that Hermione might be in a bad mood for once."

Before Hermione could reply, Professor Sprout appeared at the door and ushered the freezing students inside.

Floating jars filled with blue fire were scattered throughout the greenhouse carefully placed out of reach of any curious plants. The students gratefully removed their coats and scarves as the warmth washed over them.

Hermione, Harry and Ron shuffled toward their usual desk at the back corner, where a Venomous Tentacula sat, swaying slightly in its pot, occasionally jerking erratically. It tilted its head suspiciously at them as they approached.

"Settle down class, settle down!" Professor Sprout boomed, and the usual chatter died down. "Now, you will notice you each have a different plant in front of you. Unfortunately, these are the poor dears who have fallen ill during the sudden cold snap. I've been tending to our baby Mandrakes, so I need your help to determine whether their illness requires further attention from myself or a simple remedy."

Plants lay spread around the room in various amounts of disarray, many students looking in disgust at the subject they had unwillingly chosen. Neville stood nervously in front of a Snargaluff stump that was vomiting what looked like black tar.

"You are to observe their behaviour and reach a correct diagnosis and treatment plan before the end of the lesson," Sprout continued. "Finnegan, be careful with that Devil's Snare, she's particularly grumpy today. Get going!"

Excited chatter filled the greenhouse once again as students reached for their textbooks. Many were too afraid to get closer to the plants for fear of getting covered in an unknown substance.

Hermione turned toward the Venomous Tentacula, which continued to sway slowly. It jerked suddenly, letting out a whining cry.

"Well, it's safe to say I haven't the foggiest what to do," Ron said lightly, flipping his textbook open and selecting a random page to read. "Surely you just let these die and plant new ones. Circle of life, you know?"

The Venomous Tentacula snapped at him, causing Ron to jump backwards.

"Hermione?" Harry asked carefully. "Any ideas?"

Hermione ignored him, still irked by his earlier comment, as she observed the plant. Every time she tried to focus on the task though, her mind floated back to the night at The Burrow.

She had laid Stunned in the snow, unable to move from the spell Fleur had hit her with. Lupin had quickly reversed it, asking if she was okay, surprised as she leapt to her feet and ran to the point where Fleur disapparated.

She called for her, knowing it was pointless, knowing she couldn't hear her, but she called for her all the same. Her voice was lost to the inky blackness as it echoed loudly over the still fields.

The group had stayed perplexed behind her as she fell to her knees, unable to stop herself from weeping. She had heard them mutter to each other, listened to the way they speculated over why she was so upset, didn't care what they thought.

Tonks eventually came forward, wrapped an arm around her and guided her back toward The Burrow.

She had locked herself away in Ginny's room, making Harry, Ginny and Tonks swear they wouldn't tell the others what was going on, that they'd say it was just a fight between friends.

Hermione thought she would be able to speak some sense into Fleur the moment they were back at school.

But Fleur had avoided her at every chance, turning around in corridors as she approached, sitting with groups at mealtimes, even sending an apologetic looking Beauxbatons student to answer the door of the carriage when Hermione finally broke and knocked on the door at midnight one night.

These days, Hermione barely saw Fleur.

The French girl avoided all mealtimes and spent most of her time locked in the Beauxbatons carriage. Hermione contemplated following the Speropax one day as it usually lingered wherever Fleur ended up being, but she had scarcely seen the dog either.

Hermione's mood had gradually worsened over the month as she grew more irritable. She knew she wasn't pleasant to be around, knew her behaviour was embarrassing, but the crazy thoughts continued to race around her head.

Now, she had chosen to ignore Fleur as much as Fleur was ignoring Hermione.

"Hermione!" Ron yelped, snapping her from her daydream. She looked up, jumping as she noticed Ron's hand trapped in the Venomous Tentacula's mouth. Harry was frantically rifling through the pages of his textbook, babbling potential spells to get the plant off without hurting it.

"A little help!" Ron squealed as the Tentacula tugged on his arm.

Hermione fumbled for her wand and slashed it upward. The Tentacula grew limp and let out a loud snore.

Ron quickly withdrew his hand from its mouth, rubbing it gingerly.

"Lucky that thing only had its baby teeth; otherwise, it would have torn my hand off!" he snapped. "I told you to keep an eye on it, Hermione! What were you doing!?"

"S-sorry," she stammered, adrenaline pulsing through her body still. "I didn't hear you."

"You never hear anyone these days," Ron replied jerkily. "You're too busy sulking all the time!"

Hermione's sympathy for Ron vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

"I'm not sulking," Hermione said coolly. "I just have a lot going on."

"Like what!? You barely pay attention in class anymore, you're behind on all your homework, you haven't been working on the egg clue, so what else is possibly going on!?"

"If I wanted to talk to you about it, I would have," Hermione replied testily, her temper building. "You only care that I'm not doing my homework because it means you can't copy me!"

A few curious heads turned toward their raised voices. A Mandrake covered in rot peeked its head over the lid of its pot toward the commotion.

"I care because I'm your friend, and you're not acting normal! You just about kill anyone who says hi to you these days," Ron countered.

"Rubbish."

Ron looked expectantly at Harry to join in, who quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"Piss off, Ron," Hermione snarled as he made a face at Harry. "You wouldn't know anything about what I'm going through anyway. You're so oblivious."

Ron looked at her incredulously before comprehension finally dawned on him.

"You're joking," he replied. "You're actually joking. Is this _seriously _all about Fleur?"

At the mention of Fleur's name, Hermione's stomach dropped. She ignored Ron and returned to her textbook. He laughed without humour.

"It is! You've been miserable to be around ever since that night Fleur came to visit! Who cares if she doesn't want to be your friend anymore. Her name is dirt! She was probably just using you to help her in the tournament anyway!"

"Guys, chill out," Harry pleaded, but Hermione barely heard him. The anger she had been holding in for a whole month was bursting out.

"Don't you dare talk about her to me, you don't know a thing about our situation," Hermione snarled.

"I know she's associated with a Death Eater! I can't believe you didn't drop her the moment you found out about that!" Ron continued, his voice rising even further. "But instead, she ditched _you_, and you can't let it go! The past month you've been in this spectacular mood, talking down to people, ignoring everyone, just being rude!"

"Don't talk about what you don't understand!" Hermione spat back. The whole class had turned in their direction. Hannah Abbott's eyebrows were raised so high they disappeared under her beanie.

"It's not like any of us haven't tried!" Ron roared. "You spent the last few days at The Burrow in bed, obsessing over that Galleon and waiting for Fleur to reply! Meanwhile, there was a house _full _of people willing to sit and talk with you and help!"

"I didn't want any of your help; I wanted to be left alone!" Hermione shouted back.

"Well, you know what, wish granted! No wonder she's been avoiding you, you're crazy!"

Hermione whipped out her wand so quickly that Ron barely had time to blink. Her hand shook with rage as she pointed it directly between his eyes.

"I dare you to say that again," she hissed. "Then you'll see how crazy I can be."

Ron froze to the spot.

"Oi!" Harry interrupted as the students around them gaped. Hermione and Ron glared at each other, unmoving, as Professor Sprout bustled over.

"Now, now, what's all this fuss!" Sprout asked, placing her hand on Hermione's wrist to lower her wand. She gave Hermione a "stop before you do something stupid" look.

The rage subsided in Hermione's brain immediately, and the energy sapped from her. She sunk her shoulders as tears threatened to spring into her eyes.

_What's wrong with me?_

She weakly put her wand back in her bag and stared at her feet.

"You are disrupting the entire class with this nonsense. And look at this poor Tentacula!" Sprout exclaimed. "He's still sick! But atleast he wasn't subject to that argument like the rest of us."

She looked pointedly at the three of them.

"Weasley, go sit with Mr Finnegan, the Devil's Snare is proving too much for him. Potter, with Longbottom."

Harry and Ron stood and collected their equipment.

Ron threw Hermione a scathing look before collapsing into the seat next to Seamus. Harry opened his mouth to say something, before electing to smile sympathetically at her instead as he made his way toward Neville.

"Back to work, everyone!" Sprout said, clapping her hands loudly. The students slowly turned back to their plants, hushed voices gossipping over what they heard.

Sprout pulled up the chair next to Hermione, clicking her fingers at the Venomous Tentacula.

"You haven't been yourself, Granger," Sprout said gruffly.

The Tentacula shook itself awake as Sprout pet it affectionately. She graciously pretended not to notice as Hermione wiped her eyes.

"I'm not the only teacher to notice," Sprout continued softly. "Your participation in class is non-existent, and you seem to be struggling with the most basic of concepts. Do you need to talk to someone?"

"No," Hermione said quickly, avoiding Sprout's eye. "It's just… silly feelings."

"No feeling is silly if you're feeling it," Sprout replied. "Try to focus on the things you can control. Your schoolwork, for one. This Tentacula has a bad case of the hiccups. The old Hermione would have noticed this instantly. You can't control the actions of others, dear, but you can control yours."

Hermione weakly smiled as Sprout stood.

"Now, fix this plant and don't cause a ruckus in my class again."

And with that, she strode over to Neville and Harry, who were both covered in the black tar substance after a projectile vomit from the Snargaluff stump had scored them right in their faces.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The week dragged slowly by.

Hermione and Ron hadn't spoken to each other. Harry played the mediator between the two, desperately trying to get them to interact, but neither would break.

Hermione had reverted to barely speaking to anyone.

She knew her lousy mood was unwelcome, so spent copious amounts of time in the library trying to catch up on schoolwork alone instead.

She ran into Krum and Cedric a few times while in there.

They approached her like she was a Hungarian Horntail, growing the shame she felt toward her behaviour over the past month.

Cedric actively avoided talking about Fleur with Hermione. Anytime the subject approached her, he would begin to babble and make an excuse to leave.

"It's just, you know, it's complicated, right?" Cedric chattered when Hermione asked if he had seen Fleur the last time they crossed paths. "She doesn't talk much these days. Like, she isn't in Herbology anymore, but she still sits with me at mealtimes when she occasionally shows up. What's a guy to do, tell her to leave? She's nice to me… but I know she wasn't nice to you! Or, well, she wasn't _not_ nice to you, but she had her reasons… but I don't know what they are. Um, I don't know. Anyway, I need to...finish some homework."

And with that, he had darted out of the library.

Hermione thought Krum might be on her side as he had never been Fleur's biggest fan, but even he wouldn't sit and listen to Hermione complain about her.

"What has happened between you two is none of my business," he would shrug, before turning the topic back toward their Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. Though annoyed, she was silently grateful for this, as he was the only reason Hermione had been scraping by in that class for the past month.

Ginny was usually sympathetic to Hermione's rants, though Hermione could see even she was growing tired of having the same conversations.

So, Hermione had decided to stop talking about Fleur to other people, having raging conversations in her head about her instead.

The bell rang to break Hermione's concentration from _Hogwarts: A History_. She checked her watch and groaned. It was time for Charms.

Fleur had hardly been present in class for the past month, and Hermione didn't know whether she was happy about that or not. She casually brought it up to Professor Flitwick one day, who grumpily admitted that Madame Maxime had advised him Fleur was to be taught by a Beauxbatons tutor in the leadup to the second task.

Hermione picked up her bag and dragged her feet toward the Charms classroom. The corridors swarmed with students from all schools, and she barely noticed as someone sidled up next to her.

"Hey."

Hermione stiffened as she recognised the voice.

"What do you want, Tess," Hermione replied coldly.

"Just a chat."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Why? We don't have beef?"

"I've got to get to class."

Tess held Hermione's forearm to stop her from walking. The students behind them muttered grumpily as they shuffled around them.

"It wasn't me who told Amandine," Tess said bluntly. Hermione pulled her forearm from Tess' grip, keeping her face neutral. "Yeah, I was pissed when I saw you two… kissing at the ball."

"I don't want to talk abou-"

"But I know how dangerous Amandine is," she continued. "And even though I'm not a fan of you, I wouldn't put you in danger like that either."

"Sure, whatever," Hermione replied. "This doesn't matter anyway, Fleur and I aren't…" She trailed off.

The students around them started to thin.

"I'm going to be late," Hermione said as she stepped around Tess and continued walking down the hallway.

"She's a mess."

Hermione froze to the spot.

"She's trying to play it cool, but this is ruining her," Tess continued. "Ever since she's come back to Hogwarts. She doesn't sleep; she barely eats; she snaps at anyone who talks to her. She's just a mess."

Hermione stayed silent.

"Whatever happened between you two, you need to fix it. Fleur thinks she's doing the right thing by pushing you away and she seems mad at you about something. But I've known Fleur since we were kids and I've never seen her so devastated. Not even when all the Amandine stuff went down."

The corridor was now empty.

"I don't believe you," Hermione said slowly. "I've tried to speak to her, and she won't say a word to me. She doesn't even come to class anymore."

"Because she thinks it's the right thing to do," Tess replied. "Fleur is always trying to do what's right at her own expense."

"I'm not talking to her. If she wants to talk, she can come to me."

"She won't, though."

"Then I guess we won't be speaking any time soon."

Tess rolled her eyes.

"You two are as stubborn as each other," she muttered.

Hermione whirled around, her patience reached.

"She dumped _me_, Tess," Hermione snapped. Her voice bounced against the walls of the corridor, echoing the words she hated saying. "She came to where I was staying for Christmas and said she didn't want me. And she's made it very clear in the past month that she doesn't want a bar of this. I have enough self-respect to not go crawling back to her now because she's a bit sad. She made the decision, and she can live with it. I'm not going to say a word to her."

"But-"

"No," Hermione interrupted. "There's nothing more to say. I'm tired of having the same fight with her. Why do you care so much anyway? You _hated _us together."

Tess shoved her hands into pockets.

"I can't stand seeing her like this," she replied. "She may never feel the way I want her to toward me, but I just want her to be happy. And I've never seen her as happy as she was when she was with you."

Hermione adjusted the bag on her shoulder and shook her head.

"I have to get to class, Tess," she finally said, walking toward the Charms corridor.

Tess stood motionless and watched her go.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Professor Flitwick had already begun his lecture when Hermione arrived.

He raised a questioning eyebrow at her frantic apology as she dashed to her desk, avoiding the curious eyes of her classmates.

Hermione was still sitting with Cobus, the Beauxbatons boy who had pretended he didn't know English to try to convince Hermione to give him private lessons.

"Good afternoon!" Cobus whispered excitedly.

He no longer pretended he couldn't speak English; one day earlier in the month greeting her with perfect vernacular and acting perplexed when she asked how he had suddenly learnt an entire language.

Hermione ignored him as she hastily took her book from her bag.

She glanced at the blackboard where Flitwick was writing. Out of the corner of her eye, the sun caught the strands of familiar silvery hair.

Hermione's heart leapt as her attention pulled to where her ex sat hunched next to Ron.

Fleur looked terrible.

Her hair hung lank, skin tinged grey rather than its usual cream. Heavy bags dragged her eyes down, and she was gazing out the window rather than listening to Flitwick.

Hermione's battered heart fluttered slightly at the sight.

Professor Flitwick began the class and soon had them practising the duplication charm once again. They had moved onto duplicating large objects, their desks being the subject, and Hermione performed the task with ease.

Cobus asked Hermione for help, which she ignored. Usually, this would make her feel bad, but all he did was distract her from more important things, primarily, staring at Fleur.

_Why is she suddenly back in class? She doesn't look well… but maybe it's because of the task coming up. I mean, I don't look great right now either, so who am I to judge. And she's worked out the clue which is more than I can say for myself. Maybe I should talk to her… NO! She can come to me if she wants to talk so badly. The way she broke up with me was horrible. Why would I give her another chance, she doesn't-_

A loud crash next to her snapped Hermione from her thoughts as a deformed desk appeared next to them.

"Urgh, I can't get the hang of this charm!" Cobus whined.

"It's not hard," Hermione replied moodily, watching as Fleur ignored a floundering Ron, who had just caused their desk to lose one of its legs. Fleur had chosen to pretend anyone associated with Hermione was invisible, and so continued to read her textbook on the crooked desk as if nothing had happened.

"Maybe if you stopped staring at Fleur Delacour for two seconds and explained it..." Cobus muttered.

Hermione's head snapped toward him.

"I am not staring at _her_," Hermione barked. "I'm… looking at Ron. Look, he just ruined their desk."

Hermione forced a laugh and Cobus pulled a face.

"You're always looking at her, it's so obvious," he said grumpily, waving his wand and causing their desk to grow an extra leg. "She's off the market anyway, so you don't have a look in."

The weak fluttering of Hermione's heart stopped.

"What?" she replied numbly. Cobus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, she's dating one of the Beauxbatons girls. It's fairly new, I think, but I heard someone walked in on them making out in her room the other day."

Hermione felt as if someone had wrenched her stomach out of her body.

"Oh," was all Hermione said. She felt tears spring into her eyes as she looked at her textbook, furiously trying to blink them away.

Cobus shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd care that much," he muttered before opening his textbook and pretending to read it.

Hermione sat in stunned silence.

The room was becoming very hot, and the air was thick. Hermione tried to take a deep breath, but it was suffocating.

She stood quickly, grabbed her bag and darted toward the door. She vaguely heard a voice call her name, but it fell on deaf ears as she ran into the corridor.

She searched for the nearest bathroom, threw the door open and dumped her bag on the ground.

Leaning her elbows on the nearest sink, she scrunched her hands into her hair, squeezing her eyes as tightly as she could. The tears streamed anyway.

They flowed steadily, and soon she was taking deep gasps to try steady herself.

_A month? She only needed a month?_

Hermione pressed her palms against her eyes, willing the tears to stop. They smeared across her hands instead, dripping slowly into the sink beneath her.

_Tess was lying. I was just another girl in her inventory. The Amandine story was probably all a lie to let me down easy. I'm such an idiot, why can't I get over her? God, I'm so sick of crying!_

She leaned heavily on the sides of the sink, her back beginning to ache from the shuddering sobs.

_We weren't even officially together. Look at me, crying over a stupid girl who couldn't care less about me._

Hermione looked up from the sink into the cracked mirror in front of her. Her eyes were red and puffy, nose running, hair slightly knotted from her fists.

She laughed wryly.

"God, you look like shit," she said to the reflection.

She slowly straightened up, closed her eyes, and took three deep breaths. After a few moments, the tears slowly came to a stop.

"No more," she said aloud.

She jammed the plug into the sink and turned the taps until it filled with cold water, splashing her face a few times until all traces of the tears were gone. She reached for her bag and placed it on the sink next to her.

The water on her face kept her eyes shut as she blindly felt in her bag for some tissues. Her hand knocked against something cool, causing the bag to tip and the object to clatter out.

It hit the sink in front of her, and a screeching filled the bathroom.

"Oh, give me a break!" Hermione whined as she frantically felt around to close the egg. Her hand found the smooth metal, but it slipped from her grasp and fell into the sink.

Suddenly, the sound changed.

Hermione froze as a much different, more harmonious tune emitted from the water-filled sink.

She wiped her eyes frantically with the sleeve of her robe and opened them quickly. Looking into the sink, she saw the sound from the egg was causing bubbles to come from its opening.

Her heart pounded as she lowered her ear, wincing as it submerged, the water filling her ear canal. It was uncomfortable for a moment, then the sound of beautiful voices rang through her skull.

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching ponder this;_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._

They were repeating a slow, mournful poem, one she memorised quickly, her heart racing as her mind began to work harder than it had in a month.

She could recognise that kind of singing anywhere. She had done a project in her fourth year about how Mer-People used to lull sailors to their death through the specific tone of their singing voices.

Hermione jerked her head out of the water, staring at the cracked mirror in front of her in shock. Her eyes were still bloodshot from the crying, but life now sparked behind them.

"Well," she said aloud, her face cracking into its first smile in weeks. "_That _was unexpected."

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Are you sure about this, Hermione?" Ginny asked, glancing apprehensively at the lake in front of them.

"Nearly positive," Hermione replied as she heaved the spellbook from her bag and sat cross-legged on the icy ground.

Harry jogged on the spot, folding his hands under his armpits for warmth.

"It seems a bit mental," he countered. "Asking you lot to swim in the lake during winter."

"I agree," Hermione simply said as she flicked to the page she was looking for. "But I've listened to the egg a million times. I can't believe I didn't pick up that the screech is from a Merperson-"

"Yes, such an idiot," Ginny muttered.

"-and then there's the first two lines of the song," Hermione continued. "_Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground_". It all fits."

She stood up, holding her finger to the part of the page she needed and approached the edge of the lake.

Ginny and Harry followed suit, glancing at the many students streaming behind them.

A group of Beauxbatons girls walked by, Fleur skulking among them. For once, Hermione didn't notice the French girl. She missed the longing gaze directed her way without realising it.

"If you're so sure," Harry said, taking his eyes off the passersby, "why the need to do this?"

"Because I want to be certain."

Hemione crouched next to the lake and squinted at the part of the page she had marked. She nodded to herself, took a deep breathe, and let out a loud screech.

"Oh, Merlin," Ginny muttered.

A group of Ilvermorny students on their way to class stopped in surprise, their faces cracking into grins.

Hermione ignored them all as she stared fixedly at the water. Nothing happened.

"Must have been the wrong tone," she murmured to herself.

She tried a higher-pitched screech, varying the length of each note and looking determinedly at the calm lake.

A small crowd began to form behind her, a smattering of giggles passing through them as they watched.

Harry spun on his heel to hush them, making quick eye contact with a perplexed Cedric.

Ginny's face matched her flaming hair as Hermione continued to screech in varying pitches, stopping only to consult the textbook and mutter to herself.

The growing crowd exchanged hushed whispers and failed to suppress giggles at Hermione's loud performance. Seamus was doubled over in silent laughter.

This continued for another five minutes before Hermione let out an irritated huff.

"I don't think they want to acknowledge me," she whined.

"I know the feeling," Ginny whispered to Harry. The group behind them, noticing the break in screeching, began to cheer Hermione on, disappointed that their morning entertainment had ended.

Hermione blushed slightly and stood up, her knees stiff from kneeling for so long.

"I guess I'll just-" she began but was cut off as the crowd let out a soft _oooh._

The Speropax had come bounding through them and skidded to a halt next to Hermione. It gazed up at her, its sleek coat gleaming in the early morning sun.

"Er, hello," Hermione awkwardly said as she put her book back into her bag. "C'mon, Harry, Ginny, this is no good-"

The Speropax barked, and Hermione jumped slightly.

"What the hell!?"

Pleased it had her attention, the dog trod gracefully toward the lake, turning to look at Hermione once again, before sticking its nose into the water and blowing a stream of bubbles.

The crowd erupted into giggles once again.

The Speropax took its nose from the water and let out a wet sneeze. It yipped at Hermione, who looked back incredulously.

"I don't know what you're trying to say," Hermione said slowly, not sure if the dog understood English.

"Try screeching at it!" someone yelled from the crowd.

The Speropax tilted its head, stuck its nose back into the lake, blew bubbles, sneezed. It's watery eyes met Hermione's, and suddenly her brain clicked.

"That dog is so fucking weird," Ginny said as Hermione quickly pulled her book from her bag once again and hurried to the lake edge. "Hermione wha-?"

"Shhh!" Hermione said as she crouched next to the Speropax, placing her book next to its front paws. She withdrew her wand, waving it in a circular motion until a large bubble formed, still attached to the tip.

She consulted the textbook quickly before leaning forward and screeching into the bubble.

"Anyone got the number for St Mungo's?" a voice jeered.

Hermione pointed the bubble toward the lake, and it shot forward and under the water.

She sat back on her heels, sharing a look with the Speropax as they waited.

"Is it just me," Harry muttered, turning to Cedric who was now standing next to him. "Or is Hermione communicating with a dog right now?"

"It would appear she is communicating with a dog, yes," Cedric replied lightly.

Hermione and the Speropax sat like statues, the slight breeze the only thing disrupting the still surface of the lake.

The bell rang to signal the start of classes causing everyone to jump. The disappointed crowd began to disperse.

Ginny glanced at Harry before slowly approaching Hermione, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, um, Hermione?" Ginny said softly. "Not to interrupt, but we should all get to class. It was a good thought and all, but it was always going to be a stretch that it would wor- holy fuck, there's a Merperson."

The Speropax wagged its tail and Hermione jumped to her feet as three Merpeople appeared, their heads just breaking the surface as they observed her.

Their skin was grey, and their faces were smattered with a variety of different coloured scales. They each had a long pointed fin that started between their eyebrows and ran down the back of their heads. Green hair hung dripping over their yellow eyes as impossibly sharp teeth leered at Hermione.

The crowd behind Hermione had quickly reformed, shouts of admiration and disgust mixing into one.

The Merperson at the front had a large red scar stretching from the corner of its mouth to its ear, which stretched grotesquely as it let out a piercing screech. Everyone but Hermione clamped their hands to their ears.

She scrunched her face in discomfort while quickly consulting her textbook, mouthing silently to herself as her finger traced across the page.

The crowd watched in awe as Hermione screeched back, her shifting pitch much slower than the Merpersons. Multiple times she had to stop mid-reply and quickly flick through the pages to find the correct tone.

"Can she actually speak Mermish!?" Ginny yelled over the replying Merpersons screech. Harry shrugged, his fingers stuffed firmly into his ears.

The conversation between Hermione and the Merperson continued for a few more moments. Everyone on the grounds had now stopped to watch the interaction.

Finally, the Merperson nodded its head and stretched its mouth into a terrifying smile.

It slowly dipped back under the water, its comrades quickly following suit. The lake sat still once again.

The crowd, for once, was silent.

Hermione let out a satisfied sigh as she packed the textbook back into her bag. She smiled at the Speropax, which yapped happily in reply.

"Thanks for that," she said to the dog, and its tail began to wag. Hermione stiffly rose to her feet.

The crowd let out a cheer; many students still gaping at the place the Mer-People had disappeared.

Hermione began to walk toward a beaming Ginny and Harry but paused. She turned back to the Speropax.

"Tell her to watch what I do in the second task," Hermione said so only it could hear. The Speropax tilted its head. "She'll… recognise the spell I use."

Hermione waved her wand and shot a large bubble from its tip, looking pointedly at the dog. It stared at the drifting bubble for a moment before it's tail suddenly stopped wagging, and it's ears drooped.

The dogs' sad eyes met Hermione's, and she felt time freeze. Her mouth dropped open.

"Oh my God," was all she could whisper as realisation crashed over her.

The Speropax leapt to its feet, darting through the crowd toward the Beauxbatons carriage, its heels flicking snow on the bystanders as it went.

Hermione watched the dog run, her face frozen in the same expression.

"Hermione! What was that!" Ginny yelled excitedly, snapping Hermione out of her trance. She slapped her fiercely on the back as Harry and Cedric came bounding over.

"Could you understand them?" Harry asked breathlessly.

Hermione tore her eyes from the fleeing dog.

"I got bits and pieces," she said sheepishly as the three of them made noises of awe. "I tried to ask specifics about what they would take from me in the task, but they wouldn't tell. Though they did say that the best route to get to where the stolen things will be. If I take a track near the main sewage pipe and then-"

But Hermione stopped talking abruptly at Cedric's expression. His face had gone completely white.

"Wait…" he said slowly. "The second task is to go into the lake?!"

An awkward silence pressed between the group.

"Oh, um," Hermione stammered. "I thought you had already worked it out."

"I thought I had," Cedric replied, his cheeks flushing. "I thought the clue meant that we would have to go underground. Like, into your dungeons to fight Inferi or something. I've been practising… the wrong…"

He trailed off.

The group awkwardly stood as Cedric glanced at his watch, muttered an excuse, and quickly paced back to the Ilvermorny truck.

"Well, that's why we wait to share exciting news, isn't it!" Ginny exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Anyway, you need to figure out a way to survive underwater then."

"I've already worked it out," Hermione replied as they made their way toward the castle. "I've tampered with a spell that I already know. There's nothing to do now but wait for the task."

Hermione glanced toward the Beauxbatons carriage as they approached the entrance to the castle, but the Speropax was nowhere to be seen.

The vision of its sad eyes swam to the front of her mind as her thoughts drifted to Fleur.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The two weeks leading up to the second task passed in the blink of an eye.

Hermione had practised the spell she was going to use until it was perfect. And then she practised some more.

She revisited the freezing lake a few days after her conversation with the Mer-People and, after fighting off a few particularly aggressive Grindylows, had found the sewage pipe with ease.

On land, she poured herself back into her schoolwork.

The teachers were surprised but pleased at her sudden change of attitude, and Professor Sprout had given her slightly over-enthusiastic praise when she managed to re-pot a hysterical Mandrake on the first try.

Hermione forced herself to participate in Common Room antics, joined in when Harry nervously asked if she wanted to play Quidditch even though she was no good, and helped a surprised Cobus finally be able to perform the duplication charm.

Her friends stopped treading delicately around her, and her grades improved. She was starting to feel like herself again.

Ron had even sheepishly approached her in the Common Room one evening to mutter an apology, which she accepted without explanation. He was relieved when she said she didn't want to talk about the argument, agreeing that they bury it under the rug and play a game of wizard chess instead.

Any time her thoughts drifted to Fleur, she stopped them in their tracks.

At first, it had been nearly impossible. She had to pretend it didn't bother her that Fleur hadn't shown up to Charms again. She forced herself not to glance at the Ravenclaw table where Fleur would sit whenever she came to a mealtime. She stopped her eyes from raking across the grounds to see if the Speropax was around

She had to make the conscious decision every day to not allow Fleur to live rent-free in her head.

It was with relief when the day of the second task finally arrived.

Hermione had been sitting at breakfast when Professor McGonagall beckoned her and the three other Champions from their respective seats to join her by the doors.

Hermione's heart raced as she stood and pushed her untouched breakfast away.

She wished Harry had been there to offer words of encouragement, but she hadn't seen him since the day before. She felt slightly hurt that he hadn't bothered to get up to see her off.

The Gryffindor table exploded with cheers, loudly hooting and whistling as she walked by. Hermione tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace as she saw the crudely made banners flapping with her smiling face plastered on them.

Hermione joined the three other champions by the door and followed McGonagall outside onto the crisp grounds.

It was a cold, overcast day and Hermione pulled her robes tighter around herself as they walked towards the lake.

Giant stands rose around it, and Hermione could see flustered wizards waving their wands frantically to conjure flames in large fire pits.

_Atleast the spectators will be warm, _Hermione thought grimly.

She was walking shoulder to shoulder with Cedric who she could feel violently shaking under his thin robes. Krum was in front of them, speaking calmly with McGonagall about the conditions. Fleur trailed them all, her hood pulled over her head again and looking down at her feet. She had tissues clenched in her fist and was blowing her nose frequently. Hermione forced herself not to look back.

"Feeling confident?" Cedric asked, breaking Hermione from her thoughts. His eyes were wide as he stared unblinking at the lake.

"I guess so," she replied. "But anything can happen during the task, right?"

Cedric nodded, his face tinged slightly green.

They reached the shoreline and McGonagall directed them to wait on an old wooden dock. It extended a few metres atop the lake, floating peacefully.

She spaced them out evenly, telling them to prepare themselves and wishing them all luck before turning on her heel and striding toward the teacher's grandstand.

The crowd quickly began to stream in.

Chants and squeals of excitement filled the air as Hermione's stomach began to knot. Makeshift banners waved frantically as students chanted their school anthems over each other. She spied a few fireworks that had been explicitly banned by Filch sparkling overhead.

Hermione's eyes flicked to the other champions.

Krum had already stripped off his thick Durmstrang furs, standing in his swimming trunks and doing an assortment of stretches. He didn't even have goosebumps.

Fleur stood with her arms crossed, head down, hood up. Cedric was on her other side, staring wide-eyed at the growing crowd.

What felt like seconds later, Ludo Bagman's voice boomed across the crowd.

"Welcome, welcome!" his boyish voice said, and the now completely seated crowd let out a raucous cheer. "Welcome to the second task!"

A fresh wave of nerves cloaked Hermione as she turned to face the box where Bagman stood.

Fleur and Cedric had both started to undress, something Hermione didn't need to do. She forced herself to stare at Bagman as he continued speaking, only watching Fleur peeling off her silk robes out of the corner of her eye.

"Each champion has had someone very special taken from them," Bagman continued, and Hermione's full attention was snatched from Fleur's half-naked body. "They will have one hour to retrieve the person that is waiting under the lake for them."

All four champions were now staring at Bagman in alarm.

_They've taken humans!? _Hermione thought frantically, and it dawned on her where Harry now was. She gulped as the dark lake loomed next to her.

"On my whistle then!" Bagman thundered, and the crowd let out another cheer as the shrill sound filled the air.

He shouted commentary as all the champions began to move.

Krum was waving his wand in complicated motions around his head and muttering as his features began to distort.

Cedric had shoved something into his mouth and was frantically chewing. He dashed into the lake, the first to break the still surface.

Hermione glanced to her right as she withdrew her wand.

Fleur hadn't moved.

Their eyes connected—the familiar spark shooting through Hermione's body. She numbed it quickly. It wasn't allowed to have a place within her anymore.

Fleur was shivering in her bathing suit; arms folded tightly against the cold. She looked thin, the toned muscle she usually sported no longer as prominent. The bags under her eyes had become impossibly darker, and her nose was bright red. Her face remained impassive as she watched Hermione.

Krum sprinted forward, his head transfigured into a mutated shark, and dove underwater, following Cedric's path.

The crowd cheered loudly as Krum submerged. Hermione's eyes stayed locked on Fleurs. They hadn't been this close to each other in weeks, and Hermione felt the walls around her heart start to crack.

"Well?" Fleur simply said as neither girl moved to break eye contact.

Hermione snapped out of her daze.

_Pull it together, _she thought to herself, frustrated at how fast her heart was beating.

Hermione waved her wand. She didn't need to speak the enchantment; non-verbal spells were second nature now.

The temperature shifted as an invisible bubble expanded around her, encasing her completely and protecting her from the wind.

"Ms Granger appears to have performed a spell, but nothing has happened!" Bagman's voice boomed, and a chorus of jeers echoed from the crowd.

Fleur looked confused for the briefest of moments as her eyes flicked over Hermione's body.

Then, the facade she had been stubbornly wearing finally broke.

Her mouth dropped open slightly, her eyes softened, and her stony demeanour collapsed as Hermione continued to stare determinedly at her. It was the first emotion Hermione had seen from the French girl in a month. She knew they were sharing the same flashback.

"You taught me this," Hermione said quietly as Fleur's eyes slowly began to shine with tears. "Remember? Our first time in Hogsmeade together. Before any of this became so complicated. Since I've taken your spell, I figured I should thank you for that."

The crowd grew anxious behind them. The two girls stared at each other as the purpose of why they were there fell to the wayside.

Fleur found her voice.

"It will not work," she croaked. "The spell is not strong enough. If anything attacks you, the bubble will burst."

"Still not trusting that I know what I'm doing then?"

"It is called being careful. This is a bad idea."

Hermione pointed at Fleur's wand, which she held limply by her side.

"Fire a spell at me."

Fleur scoffed, her icy demeanour quickly rebuilding.

"Excuse me?"

"Do it."

"No."

The crowd began to chatter in confusion, all observing the unmoving champions. Hermione could see McGonagall quickly making her way down the stands towards them.

"I have been in the lake already," Fleur said quickly. "There are all kinds of disgusting creatures down there that can puncture that bubble. When I taught it to you, I told you that if it takes any damage, it will collapse."

"You always underestimate me," Hermione replied. "You don't think I've tested it? I've tampered with the spell and fused it with shield magic. Made it stronger. Adapted it. I can fire spells out, but nothing can come in unless I want it to. You need to learn to trust that when I say something, I mean it."

Fleur's face was unreadable, her indifferent facade reassembled after its brief slip.

She raised her wand, and for a moment, Hermione thought she was about to test the truth to Hermione's words.

Instead, she pointed at her own head and muttered a charm. She was starting the task.

"Come on now, girls!" Bagman's voice radiated. "The whistle blew over a minute ago!"

Hermione watched as a bubble began to encase Fleur's head. The French girl shivered violently and glanced enviously at Hermione's robes.

"I wish I had thought to do that to the spell," Fleur murmured, her teeth chattering as she waited for the bubble to wrap around her head completely. "It looks like I could have used your help."

Hermione shook her head, turned, and walked toward the end of the dock. It rocked gently with each step, and the crowd sarcastically cheered as she reached the edge.

"You made your decision," Hermione replied, her back still turned. "You don't get any part of me anymore."

And with that, she leapt into the frozen depths of the lake.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: WOW again, you guys. The response to the last chapter was amazing, and I'm so glad to see so many new people finding my story. Quite a few reviews are saying that this is different to a lot of Fleurmione fics out there, and I don't really know what that means haha. I haven't read many other Fleurmione fics, so it would be great to hear what's making it different so I can use that in my other writing as well!**

**MASSIVE shoutout goes to my buddy Perpetual Nonsense, who shouted out my story in her own. I don't have a huge following, so it's always so cool to see people come on over and mention who sent them here. Ya'll probably all still already read her stuff, but if you haven't, you need to check it out. In honour of my dear friend, I have decided to steal her tactic of replying to reviews in the A/N section since there are so many that made me smile. **

**This is my favourite chapter I've written so far so I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Anasbell305: **She sure as hell looks like she's suffering huh. She might need a bit of help… Thanks for reading!

**Oh snap: **I mean look, I agree with your words. Fuckboy Hermione would be great, and the girl is hurting right now. Fleur's communication hasn't been great and she's a bit too scared. What do you think it will take for her to be brave enough to go against her overbearing family? Potentially a fuckboy Hermione? Stay tuned…

**Wow: **Her character development sure as hell will keep happening! I'm enjoying writing her now that she's come out to a few people and is starting to own her sexuality. I feel like the positions have switched; before Fleur was the confident one and now Hermione is. Great to hear this story is refreshing!

**LazuliEva: **Eeeeexactly. Hermione has been so accessible to Fleur that Fleur has sliiiiightly taken her for granted. She's about to get a rude wake up call.

**Mione03: **Wow, thank you for the detailed review! Lack of communication has been the devil for these two, and I think is quite typical of young relationships. They are learning though, and those frustrating misses in communication will start to get resolved. Hermione is the damn best and Fleur's got to realise that! We're about to see a power swap which is awesome to write. Thanks for reading my story!

**Snackpack: **A solid effort my friend! Binging it in one day must have taken hours, I respect it! So glad you found my story :)

**BaconForever: **Fleur's not doing too good considering she's the one who made the decision huh!? It's gonna take a bit for Fleur to be able to get Hermione to trust her again, she can't keep taking Hermione for granted and she will learn that lesson real quick! The lake does strange things to the girls, stay tuned…

**Lunelait: **Well, you're about to find out the secret of the Speropax! I don't know how recently you started this story, but clues have been littered throughout so it will make you go oooooh. Hermione is reclaiming her time and Fleur is shook by it. Thanks for reading!

**Bellacaioo: **Hi there! I'm sorry for your lack of sleep but I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I owe Perpetual another shoutout for convincing a reader to come along to my little fic. Welcome to the chaos!

**Pappa: **After I write some paragraphs, I'm lost for words too. I can be so mean to my characters sometimes. Thanks for the review!

**WildNight: **Yeah she has! Hermione ain't taking no shit anymore. Fleur's got some serious grovelling to do! Thank you for the review, and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

**Craztef: **I am well thank you, and here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy :)

**Jaybat: **The denial is reaaaaal. These two are too stubborn for their own good. I mean, we both know Hermione is outstanding so OF COURSE she can create a bubble that withstands a 3000kg force. That's like, beginner magic surely ;) Hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Lipeviez: **It's good to be back! Yes, to say their communication is poor is an understatement. They need to be a bit more empathetic to each others situations if they want to make it work! You're going to see a bit of a change in that as both of them pull their heads out of their asses. Thanks for continuing to read even after a 9 month break!

**JustAnoth3eFan: **That's so awesome to hear! I hope that I update at a decent hour in your time zone haha. I find with the writing, each chapter just naturally ends up being long, between 8000-10000 words. Fleur has taken it very hard even though it was her choice, so our girls about to have a rude awakening. Thanks for reading!

**Raven007: **All the chapters in one day, what a legend! I'm glad the story sucked you in so much :) Trust me, the drama and romance only escalates from here so buckle in. Thanks for reading!

**xxDark Angel Babyxx:** You asked and you shall receive. Thanks for reading :D

**Perpetual Nonsense: **Aight, you get to be personally replied to lucky last. Haha I'm glad you felt personally attacked cos I felt personally attacked too and I wrote this. The classic "I don't care about them anymore, but they're the only thing i'm gonna talk about". Fleur's been running around doing whatever she wants and it's time she gets put in her place. Hermione ain't got time for that and Fleur's gonna get a rude awakening. As for the dog, well, you will see… You know I had to throw a little emotion in there before they started the task, even though they're pissed at each other they still got that little bit of love there. But yeah, then Hermione was like aight i'm dipping out to go and fuck things up in this damn lake. Excited to hear what you think about this chapter and thanks again for the callout on your story ya good bitch.

**Guests: **Thank you all for your kind reviews! It's difficult to reply to those as it's hard to differentiate among the guests, but I really appreciate your feedback too! Your reviews always make me smile :)

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione's feet broke through the surface of the water, and she quickly plunged into the depths, sinking for a few seconds before touching the silty ground.

She hurriedly pointed her wand at the bottom of the bubble as it began to float her back toward the surface. A spell shot out, and it instantly grew heavier.

She tentatively took a few steps forward and breathed a sigh of relief as the bubble moved with her. No matter how confident she had been when she told Fleur the bubble was tough, she still always had a curl of doubt.

"Okay, good start," Hermione said aloud, taking in her murky surroundings.

Ghostly pieces of lake weed drifted by but she was otherwise undisturbed. The darkness grew denser the further she looked and she knew all kinds of beastly creatures lay in wait. But she had a plan, and the clock was ticking.

Knowing Fleur would be close behind, Hermione set off in search of the sewage pipe that the Merpeople had told her about. She forced her thoughts to stay on the task at hand rather than the girl she left on the dock.

It was a strange feeling moving in the bubble.

Hermione initially tried jumping along, like an astronaut hopping around the moon. Though extremely fun, she tired quickly and reverted to a walk instead.

The bubble sunk into the sand; creating a slug-like trail behind her. Its barrier was thin but strong, and bits of weed slid quietly across its surface. It moved as if it were part of her and Hermione was pleased she didn't feel like a hamster in a ball. She couldn't help but be proud of her efforts.

After a few minutes of walking in the gloom, she reached the old sewage pipe. The concrete was chipped away, and brown moss coated the surface areas that weren't already stirred by claw marks.

Uneasily, she noticed a seat of fresh footprints had already reached the same spot.

Hermione picked up the pace and walked parallel to the pipe, placing her hand onto it to guide her, the bubble wiping away the moss as she glided along. Her head rocked like a pendulum as the darkness pressed harder around her.

She used _Lumos _as she moved deeper into the lake, the beam only giving her minimal visibility.

It was too quiet.

A whooshing sound to Hermione's right made her spin in alarm and nearly drop her wand.

The Giant Squid was mere feet away from her, swimming frantically by. Its thick tentacles were covered in puncture marks, and one had a fresh chunk taken out of the end. Its large unblinking eye fixed on Hermione's frozen form for a moment, but its pace didn't change.

She watched horrified as it glided within feet of her before disappearing into the inky darkness once again.

"That was close," Hermione breathed.

And then a powerful blow threw her against the pipe.

The bubble took the impact, with Hermione losing her balance and landing awkwardly on her back.

She raised her wand quickly, heart thumping in her ears, scanning the darkness furiously for her attacker.

The sand around her feet was disturbed and clouded the water, making it even more challenging to see. She squinted and slowly got to her feet.

A movement out of the corner of her eye grabbed her attention as an eel the size of a torpedo hurtled toward her.

Hermione shrieked as it gnashed its yellow teeth viciously. She tried to dodge, but it smashed into the bubble, sending her sailing deeper into the gloom.

She tumbled around the bubble like clothes in a washing machine, not sure which way was up as the world spun wildly. Colourful schools of fish blurred around her as her momentum slowed.

Hermione scrambled to her feet. The eel was atop her almost instantly.

She threw a stunning spell at the beast which landed right between its eyes. The spell bounced uselessly off its hardened skin as the eel body-checked the bubble, sending her tumbling onto her stomach.

Hermione yelped and blindly fired another spell as she spun. The momentum shot the bubble to the left just as the eel launched another attack. It missed Hermione by inches, it's thick tail flicking angrily as it passed.

Hermione scrambled onto all fours and slashed her wand.

"_Diffindo!" _

A large gash sliced through the eel's tail and it let out a furious screech. Blood oozed from the wound as Hermione struggled to her feet.

The bubble was sinking quickly down toward the murky bottom. Hermione pointed her wand downward and fired a spell, the momentum throwing the bubble upward again. There was more room to dodge when she wasn't on the ground.

Her spell landed in a clump of lake weed and flashed brightly. The plant bristled angrily.

The eels attention was briefly drawn downward in curiosity, and Hermione had an idea.

It snapped its jaws and sped toward her again, and this time she was ready.

"_Lumos Maxima!" _Hermione yelled, and light exploded from her wand. The eel jerked back in surprise.

"_Diffindo!"_

Another deep gash appeared along the eels side, and it let out a cry of anger. Hermione's satisfaction at her spellwork disappeared quickly as the eel let out a menacing hiss. It stalked toward her, eyes shining with fury.

Hermione raised her wand as the eel darted to her right.

"_Diffi-"_

The eel abruptly changed direction, crashing into her bubble before she could finish the incantation.

Hermione fell down and was too slow to react as the eel wrapped its body around her bubble with incredible speed.

She yelped in shock as minuscule cracks spider-webbed around her.

Hermione hurled more spells at the eel, but it only grew angrier as blood slowly dripped from its wounds. It tensed its thick body and a large crack streaked in front of her eyes.

The eel pulled its head back, fangs bared. It lunged, teeth smashing against the weakening barrier between them.

It lashed out again and again, and each hit made a thumping noise that reverberated through Hermione's skull. Tiny drops of water trickled through the thin barrier.

The smooth bubbles texture was now covered in small cracks. Hermione knew it was about to collapse as she desperately tried to think of a spell that could help.

But her mind was blank.

The eel screeched and reared for another attack. Hermione covered her head as it made to strike.

But no impact came and suddenly she was drifting toward the bottom of the lake. The bubble landed softly on the silty ground.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly, and Fleur stood on the lake-floor a few metres away, wand raised and panting heavily.

The headless body of the eel lay at her feet, freshly disturbed sand floating gently around its corpse.

Hermione gaped at Fleur, still too stunned to speak. The Bubblehead charm distorted her features slightly, but she could still make out the incredulous look on the girls face.

"Yeah, really strong bubble you have got there!" Fleur exclaimed.

Hermione leant on her knees, catching her breath as she shook with adrenaline. Fleur lowered her wand.

"That bubble is going to collapse if you take another attack like that," Fleur pressed. "Can you repair it?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Of course not," Fleur muttered.

"I didn't need your help," Hermione replied, her voice shaking. Fleur rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said bluntly. "Good luck with the rest of the task."

Hermione's pulse was slowing, and she felt slightly guilty at the tone she had taken. Fleur pushed off the ground to continue swimming, kicking a rock as she did so. It drifted into the clump of weed Hermione's spell had hit earlier.

The clump rustled angrily, and Hermione dove at Fleur, knocking her to the side as a group of Grindeylow's missed her with their sharp nails by inches.

"What the-" Fleur began, but Hermione was already shooting spells at the enraged creatures. Fleur scrambled for her wand and quickly followed suit.

The Grindylow's darted around the girls, looking for an opening as they chattered in an indistinguishable language. Their green eyes glared devilishly as they licked their lips at the unexpected prey.

Hermione and Fleur threw spells erratically. The magic was too slow though, and the Grindylow's darted around them with ease, poking their green tongues out each time they missed.

A particularly quick Grindylow jabbed at Hermione's bubble, causing another small crack. Another one scratched at Fleur's leg, drawing a small amount of blood. Fleur swore loudly.

"Any ideas!?" the French girl shouted as she did an awkward pirouette to avoid another stab from a nail.

Hermione racked her brain, trying to remember the spell Lupin had taught them in their third year.

"There's a spell!" Hermione shouted back, ducking to avoid another swipe. "I just can't remember-"

"Well, remember!"

"Oh yeah, thanks for the advice!"

Fleur yelped as a Grindylow darted from behind her and raked its nails along her bubblehead charm. Hermione spun around as Fleur's eyes widened in fear.

Water rushed into the bubble almost instantly. Fleur only had time to take a deep breath before the charm broke completely.

She looked panicked toward the surface, but they were so deep now that she would never make it in one breath.

The spell suddenly sprung to Hermione's mind.

"_Relashio!" _she shouted as another Grindylow closed in on Fleur. A jet of hot water surged from her wand, much faster than the other spells, and hit the Grindylow square between the eyes. It howled in pain, clutching its face that now sported an enormous red boil.

Hermione barely noticed.

She scrambled toward Fleur, who was beginning to swim desperately toward the surface.

Reaching up, she grabbed Fleur's kicking leg, causing the girl to widen her eyes in alarm.

Hermione waved her wand as she tugged.

The bubble expanded and Fleur dropped through the thin barrier, crashing heavily onto the ground.

She coughed and spluttered loudly as water that made its way through the barrier with her sloshed around their feet. Hermione whirled back toward the Grindylow's, poised to attack.

But they were no longer interested in the witches.

They all crowded around the one wounded Grindylow, stroking it affectionately as it howled in pain. A few members of the group threw dirty looks at the girls before descending back toward the clump of weed they came from.

Fleur slowly got to her feet, shivering violently, as Hermione lowered her wand. They were both panting heavily.

"Well, this worked out well," Fleur said after a moment, and Hermione had to force herself not to laugh.

Fleur weakly protested as Hermione took off her robes and gave them to her. Hermione tried not to shiver as the frigid atmosphere of the bubble easily cut through the fabric of her t-shirt and jeans.

"If you pointed your wand at the ground and shot out a spell, the momentum would have taken you to the surface," Hermione said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice as Fleur pulled the robes on.

"Well sorry, I was just a bit too distracted to sit and think of such a cunning plan," Fleur snapped back.

The rush from the previous battles slowly wore off, and it dawned on Hermione that she was now mere feet away from her ex. She would instead have gone round two with the eel.

"So, what is the plan?" Fleur said awkwardly as she wrapped the robes around herself.

"What do you mean?" Hermione replied. Fleur gestured at their bubble.

"Well, we could go to the surface, but the minute our heads appear above water, we lose the task," Fleur continued.

"Right."

"And I cannot do the bubblehead charm again since it pulls in the oxygen around it to work. It would take the majority of the oxygen that is left in this bubble."

"Right."

"And I guess this bubble cannot be split into two?"

"No, it can't."

"And would it be safe to assume," Fleur mused as she traced her fingers along one of the cracks in the bubble, "that by expanding this bubble to pull me into it, you have just weakened it further?"

Hermione nodded.

"And on top of that, we also have limited oxygen now there are two of us in here."

"You've really thought of it all, haven't you?"

Fleur bit her lip as she glanced into the darkness of the lake ahead of them. Hermione's heart sunk as she realised what this meant.

Fleur cleared her throat.

"Well, let's go find them then," she said, avoiding Hermione's eye.

Hermione sighed and nodded, turning to the right. Fleur turned to the left. They both bumped into their respective sides of the bubble.

"Oh, here we go," Hermione muttered as both girls turned toward each other.

"What is happening?," Fleur demanded.

"The bubble has attached to the two of us," Hermione retorted. "We have to move in the same direction, or it won't go anywhere."

"Well, that is fine, We will go to the left since that is where the hostages will be."

"No," Hermione replied, keeping her voice even. "They'll be this way. Look, there are footprints over there."

"Yes, from someone who obviously got lost."

"Or from someone who knows where they're going."

"I have been in this lake-"

"-as have I-"

"-and I'm telling you it's this way!"

Hermione crossed her arms defiantly.

"You are a guest in this bubble," she said coolly. "And as such, I get to make the rules. I know it's your biggest fear to not be able to run away from me, but you're going to have to put up with me for the next 45 minutes. If we even have that long, I don't know how long the oxygen will last with two of us."

Fleur clenched her jaw, and Hermione readied herself for a fight. She felt the hurt she had been suppressing for the last month slowly boiling to the surface.

"Fine," Fleur finally said. "Lead the way, _captain_."

Hermione threw a look and marched toward the right again, following the footsteps already entrenched in the sand.

Tension pulsed between them as they walked in silence.

Hermione forced herself to calm down. An angry mind wasn't going to help her in the slightest right now, and a creature could strike at any moment. She chose not to disclose to Fleur the fact that the bubble would burst under any further attacks.

Neither girl attempted to make conversation as they descended further into the murky depths.

They had to pause from time to time as Hermione crouched down to look for the footsteps. They were sporadic, like the person leaving them was taking frequent breaks from swimming to stand and rest.

The surface grew further away as the darkness around them thickened. Their thin wand lights barely illuminated the ground in front of them, and both girls had to squint to see past the cracks that covered the bubble.

Small creatures scuttled away from the light of their wands, but there was still no sign of the hostages.

Fleur let out a loud sneeze which nearly gave Hermione a heart attack.

"What?" Fleur said at the dark look she received. "I have a cold, sue me."

They continued to walk side by side, both looking around nervously for any sign of an attacker.

The expanse of sand around them became steadily covered in rocks, and they were soon climbing awkwardly over smaller boulders. The hair on the back of Hermione's neck had been standing on end the entire time.

She raised her wand to look for another footprint, accidentally brushing Fleur's hand in the process. She jerked away, the light from her wand shining erratically around them.

"Wow, really?" Fleur muttered. A spark within Hermione surged.

"What?" she replied coldly.

"Nothing."

"No, go on."

"I said nothing."

"Yeah, nothing is all you've been saying for the last two months."

Fleur tilted her chin up, closing her eyes for the briefest moment.

"Well, this was always coming, wasn't it. You really want to get into this now?" she replied. "While we are at the bottom of some God-forsaken lake surrounded by all kinds of creatures that want to kill us?"

"Well you don't speak to me when we're on land, so this will have to do won't it?"

Fleur made a noise in her throat.

"I was literally chased from Ron's house by a bunch of Auror's. I think I had the right to be angry, Hermione."

"Angry, yes. But you didn't even let me explain. You just… disappeared."

Fleur fired a spell at a nearby rock, obliterating it.

"You've been an asshole," Hermione said bluntly.

"What did you expect me to do after what happened at Christmas?" Fleur snapped. "Your friends attacked me, we ended things, what more was there to say."

"A lot, actually. You tossed me to the side like I was just another one of your… flings."

Fleur raised an eyebrow.

"Another one of my flings?" she repeated. "What flings would these be?"

Hermione felt her cheeks redden.

"Don't play dumb. Cobus told me the other day in Charms," she said, pretending to look for more footprints, so she didn't have to make eye contact. "You're already seeing someone else. Which is whatever, like we aren't together, so it's not like I care but-"

"And you chose," Fleur interrupted, her voice rising slightly, "to believe Cobus who you know has had a crush on you for months now? You do not think he _might _have an agenda?"

"Well, you're good at keeping secrets, so I dunno."

"Oh?"

"The Speropax. You kept that quiet, didn't you?"

A ghost of a smile crossed Fleur's lips.

"I had my reasons."

"You always have your reasons."

A slithering sound to their right made both girls jump, but it was just a curious water-snake coasting alongside them. The girls quickened their pace.

"Can we atleast try to be civil while we're trapped in this bubble together?" Fleur sighed.

"Sure. Even better, we don't have to talk at all."

Fleur rolled her eyes.

They clambered over another boulder, and a trail between some large rocks came into view in front of them. It was smooth, the odd footstep the only thing that had disturbed the sand. It was clearly used often.

The girls jumped off the rock together, and their bubble floated gently back to the ground.

"Why did you run out of Charms the other day?" Fleur pressed as they waited for the sand the bubble disturbed to settle around them.

Hermione wanted to keep silent out of sheer stubbornness, but before she knew it, her mouth was moving.

"You noticed that?"

"Of course, I did. I only came to that class because I wanted to… speak to you. But then you arrived late, and Professor Flitwick had already told me to sit next to Ron."

Hermione forced the flutter in her stomach back down. They continued walking.

"I was late because Tess stopped me in the corridor to talk about you," she replied, dodging the first question.

"What did she say?"

"What did you want to say to me?"

"Touche," Fleur said simply and fell silent.

The trail led them to the yawning entrance of a trench.

Hermione ignored Fleur's protests as she strode forward confidently, silently hoping she wasn't leading them into a trap.

The rocks around them grew higher, heaped on top of each other unnaturally.

The trail snaked around the formations, and the girls were forced to move into a single file. They were so close together that Hermione could feel Fleur's soft breath on her neck.

The darkness around them was soothing and felt like they weren't in reality. Like anything could be said, and the dark lake would swallow it away with no consequence.

"Why haven't you been in class?" Hermione questioned, her voice echoing between the rocks around them.

She turned to look at Fleur and was surprised to see a light sweat across her brow, and her face paled. Hermione didn't understand how she could be sweating; the inside of their bubble was freezing.

"Madame Maxine ordered it," Fleur replied. "She could see I was… not myself. So she thought a Beauxbatons tutor would be more suitable while I pulled myself together."

"What do you mean, not yourself?"

"I think you know."

Hermione chewed on her words for a moment.

She had spent the last month forcing herself not to think about this topic. She had been starting to feel more like herself as she accepted they weren't going to be together. She hadn't cried over Fleur in weeks, and her heart had just stopped aching at the thought of her. She had accepted she wasn't going to get closure.

But now Fleur was standing inches away from her, willing to talk, and Hermione couldn't stop herself.

"I really don't, Fleur," Hermione said, keeping her voice even.

"This has been difficult for me too."

"Has it, though? You could have spoken to me at any time, and you made a conscious choice not to."

"Because I thought I was doing the right thing."

_What do you mean, thought? _

Hermione turned away and held her wand higher as the trench narrowed. Small pebbles occasionally fell from the top of it, skittling along the roof of their bubble. They had been walking downhill for a few minutes, and Hermione would have been frightened if her mind wasn't racing.

"As far as I knew," Hermione said slowly. "You were happy with your decision. You avoided me like the plague for weeks. You sent someone _else _to the door of your carriage when I came knocking. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?"

"I did not want to make it any harder for you. I had made a decision, and I had to stick by it. I saw how much I hurt you. I saw how defeated you looked in the corridors. It would not have been fair on you if you knew... well, anyway, I have put you through enough."

Hermione stopped in her tracks, and Fleur bumped gently into her.

"What is it?" Fleur said quickly, flashing her wand from side to side.

Hermione spun around.

"If I knew what?" Hermione said, and Fleur's face fell.

"It is irrelevant. Let's keep going."

"If I knew what, Fleur?"

Fleur wrapped the robes tighter around her and stared at her feet. A school of fish swum lazily by as both girls stayed motionless.

"I think I made a mistake," she murmured. "I think I acted too quickly that night at Ron's. I was scared."

Hermione thought she misheard.

She stared at Fleur in disbelief, waiting for an explanation, but she would not meet her eye. Her ears rang slightly as she clenched her trembling hands into fists.

"What?" Hermione finally said numbly.

Fleur chewed her lip, her face half-lit by her wandlight. The black bags under her eyes looked even darker than usual.

"You can't say that to me," Hermione continued. "You don't get to… you can't…"

"I know," Fleur murmured, but Hermione interrupted.

"No, you _don't _know!" she exclaimed. She didn't care that her voice was shaking as the rage that had been bubbling for weeks erupted inside her. The fish around them scattered in fright as Hermione's voice echoed off the rocks. "You have _no fucking idea_, Fleur! These past two months have been fucking _impossible!"_

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No! I don't want to hear that you're sorry! It's too late, do you have any idea how you've made me feel!?"

"I didn't mean to-"

"I don't care what you meant to do!" Hermione shouted, her voice cracking. "All I care about is what you _did_!"

"Hermione, please," Fleur begged. "I got scared when Amandine showed up, and I thought I was protecting you. But I have realised that I was just protecting myself. Can we just talk about thi-"

Hermione let out a bark of a laugh.

"It doesn't take a fucking psychologist to figure that out," she spat. "How could I ever trust you again?"

"Please, just calm down-"

Hermione spun on her heel, stalking through the trench again. She barely noticed where she was going as her vision flashed red. Fleur scurried along behind her as the water in the bubble sloshed around their feet.

"I came to Charms that day because I wanted to talk about this," Fleur said hurriedly. "Then you ran out, and I thought it was because of me, and I thought it would be better if I just stayed out of your life and stopped causing you so much hurt. But I think-"

"Don't," Hermione interrupted bluntly. "I don't want to hear what you think. If you respect me at all, you'll stop talking right now. Let's just get this over with."

Hermione waited for a reply, but it didn't come.

The trench levelled out before rising sharply.

Both girls panted heavily as they trudged up the slope, occasionally stumbling as the sand gave out beneath their feet. The air felt thin, and sweat was dripping down Hermione's face.

The surface grew closer, and light began to speckle onto the rocks above them. They didn't need their wand lights anymore, but Hermione barely noticed.

_After everything she's put me through, she now dares to say she wants to talk things through!?_

Hermione didn't know to scream or laugh or cry. All she wanted was to be as far away from Fleur as humanly possible, and that meant finishing the task.

"Hermione, I don't feel very well," Fleur quietly said from behind her after a few moments.

"Yeah, I feel sick, too," Hermione snapped.

"That's not what I meant. I don't feel.. normal. Can we press pause on this argument until we are safe on land?"

"I don't want to talk to you on any surface."

"I'm serious, I-"

Hermione scoffed and picked up the pace.

"Even if there was _some _way for you to explain your absolutely terrible behaviour," Hermione exploded, her anger erupting from her once again, "How could I ever let you in? You run when you're scared, why would I open myself up to that again?"

"Hermione, I-"

"Don't interrupt me!"

"No, look!"

Hermione looked up and was snapped out of her rage.

Two Merpeople were perched on the edge of a rock above them, peering curiously at the arguing girls. Sun rays shone through the surface of the lake and bathed them in light.

They looked like adolescents; their fins slightly smaller and faces less scarred than the ones Hermione had spoken with.

In her fury, Hermione hadn't noticed that the path they had been trekking along was growing steadily wider and the walls of the trench shorter.

The surface of the lake above them was no longer as far away, the morning sun spilling through and highlighting a clearing in the distance.

Sweet singing voices reached their ears as Hermione's gaze adjusted.

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

"We've found it," Fleur breathed.

Two motionless people were each tied to a large rock in the clearing. Two empty rocks stood next to them, both with a broken rope tied loosely around them. A crowd of Merpeople were waiting at the entrance, pointing at them and swishing their tails excitedly.

"There they are!" Hermione shouted, and she began to run, Fleur close behind her.

_And while you're searching ponder this;_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

Hermione's breathing was coming in deep wheezes, and she felt herself tiring quickly as they ran.

_God, am I really this unfit?_ She thought. Fleur's wheezes behind her made her feel slightly better.

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

Merpeople swam overhead as they reached the clearing. Hermione had to slow to a walk as her lungs wheezed for oxygen.

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._

A small group of hardened looking Merpeople stood by the four large rocks. They held stern expressions, each with a spear in hand. A wide-eyed adolescent Merperson stood closest to an unconscious Harry. One of the older soldiers placed a hand on his shoulder, muttering something into his ear.

Hermione's eyes were quickly drawn to Harry.

He was tied loosely to one of the rocks, his head flopped forward onto his chest. A girl who cast a striking resemblance to Fleur was tied to another, her head lolling back and forth. A group of Merpeople stood near them, their heavenly voices repeating the verse from the golden egg.

"Gabrielle!" Fleur yelled and ran toward the girl. Hermione followed behind Fleur, her breathing still heavy. Her head began to spin slightly as they reached the girl.

"Ah, you have finally arrived."

Hermione turned toward the voice as Fleur began shooting spells at the ties that bound Gabrielle.

The Merperson Hermione had spoken with weeks before was standing behind them, though Hermione barely recognised her.

She wore robes of delicate purple silk and a golden crown that glittered a kaleidoscope of rainbows. She spoke in perfect Queen's English, and strings of pebbles lay around her neck. The large scar on her face no longer looked ugly as the sun bathed her in light. A warm smile spread across her face.

Fleur's breathing grew heavier behind Hermione as she continued to break Gabrielle loose.

"I am Mer-chieftainess Murcus," she said in her deep voice. "You are the last to arrive."

Hermione was sucking in oxygen in deep breathes now, hearing Fleur behind her doing the same.

"The others… already came?" she panted. Murcus nodded.

"One boy arrived awhile ago," she purred. "The other did not make it, so his hostage has been collected. It would appear you arrived just in time. You are running out of oxygen in that clever bubble of yours."

Hermione was finding it hard to focus on Murcus' words. Her head was spinning, and she heard Fleur let out a grunt. She glanced over her shoulder.

Gabrielle's ropes were utterly cut loose, the small girl floating just above the rock she was tied to.

But Hermione's attention was drawn to Fleur.

Fleur's eyes were wide and slightly manic. She glanced around quickly at the Merpeople and was drenched in sweat.

"Fleur, are you-" Hermione began, but Fleur cut her off.

"They're going to kill us," Fleur hissed. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about? No, they're no-"

The Merpeople screeched as Fleur suddenly pointed her wand at the closest one.

"What is wrong with that girl!" Murcus barked her smooth tone vanishing.

"It's okay!" Hermione panted, her head growing dizzier by the second. "It's just the lack of oxygen-"

"Back off!" Fleur screamed, and the Merpeople's expressions became darker. The soldiers swum over, spears poised. The adolescent of the group looked terrified as he pointed his spear toward Fleur.

"Get away you beasts! Fleur shouted, her wand moving from one Merperson to another. "Get away from my sister!"

"Beasts!?" Murcus roared, and the Merpeople around her hissed fiercely.

Hermione didn't know what to do.

Harry was still tied to the rock so they couldn't leave. But Fleur was growing more manic by the second.

"Don't take her!" Fleur screamed again as the soldiers grew closer. "I swear if any of you get _close _to Amandine, I'll-"

"What is the reason for this!" Murcus snarled. "Lower your wand, girl! We are not stopping you from taking her!"

Hermione pulled her own wand from her pocket slowly. She placed her hand gently on Fleur's shoulder, but Fleur shrugged her off.

"Fleur," Hermione muttered. "That's not Amandine. It's okay, we'll be in oxygen soon, just let me get Harry and-"

"You foolish girl!" Murcus seethed. "Look at her leg, she has been scratched!"

Hermione glanced at Fleur's leg and noticed the wound from the Grindylow scratch was oozing a green substance. Her heart sank.

"The nails of the Grindylow contain a hallucinogenic!" Murcus exclaimed. "She will only become more paranoid. Leave now!"

Two soldiers swam quickly to stand in front of Murcus. They pointed their spears toward the girls, teeth bared.

"Fleur, come on," Hermione pleaded, trying to avoid looking at the sharp point of the spears, but Fleur ignored her.

"I need to protect Amandine," Fleur shouted, spit flying from her mouth.

"O-okay," Hermione stuttered. "Just calm down, then we'll save her-"

"She does not know what she is doing! The Death Eaters are coming!"

"Uh, we can hide her, just-"

Fleur spun sharply and pointed her wand between the eyes of the adolescent warrior.

"I WILL NOT LET HER LEAVE WITH THEM!"

Three things happened within the space of a second.

Murcus shouted for her warriors to stand down. Hermione slashed her wand, the resulting spell knocking Fleur unconscious. And the adolescent warrior shrieked and jabbed his spear forward, piercing straight through the bubble.

Hermione felt herself becoming faint as the water poured in through the small hole. Fleur floated in the growing pool of water, her jaw slack.

"LEAVE!" Murcus boomed, and Hermione forced herself to stay conscious.

"Yes, okay!" Hermione shouted back as the Merpeople screeched around them.

_Think, think!_

Hermione was chest-deep in the water now as the bubble quickly filled. The Merpeople hissed and slowly circled the girls as Murcus continued to shout madly. Fleur bumped gently against the top of the bubble as Hermione acted quickly.

She hastily tugged the drenched robes off of Fleur, leaving the witch in just her bathing suit once again. A layer of goosebumps cloaked Fleur's body, and Hermione pulled her in close to try to transfer the last of her own body warmth.

She took a deep breath and waved her wand. A bubblehead charm wrapped around Fleur's head and the rest of the oxygen was sucked into it as the bubble finally collapsed.

Hermione was immediately soaked as her protective barrier disappeared. The water was freezing, and she clenched her teeth as it instantly chilled her to the bone.

Hermione hurriedly pulled the unconscious Fleur toward where Gabrielle floated. Seizing a rope that dangled around the girl's ankle, she frantically swam toward Harry.

The Merpeople snapped their sharp teeth as she passed but didn't stop her. The warriors kept their spears poised.

Hermione's brain was spinning wildly as she reached Harry, throwing spells at the ties around his limbs. One missed and cut him on the leg, blood seeping slowly from the wound.

She tugged him free, quickly wrapping one of the ropes securely around his wrist.

Her vision started to blacken as she pulled Fleur tightly around the waist. The unconscious girl's head flopped into the crook of Hermione's neck.

Her lungs screamed for oxygen as she gripped both ropes in her other hand, and frantically positioned her wand downward.

Her last view was of the Merpeople scattering as she fired a spell. The force of it shot Hermione and her unconscious passengers all toward the glinting surface.

She felt herself begin to pass out, all of her willpower going into holding everything in her hands as tightly as possible.

_We must be nearly there… we must be nearly there… we must…_

She clenched her eyes shut as the water zoomed past them.

_We must be nearly there…_

Light began to shine brighter, and she didn't know whether it was the sun or if she had fainted. She pulled Fleur even closer into her.

_We must... be nearly... _

The stinging cold wind slapped across her face as they broke the surface, their momentum flinging them through the air.

Hermione fell heavily onto solid ground, feeling the three bodies slam down beside her.

She was still gripping Fleur tightly as she coughed uncontrollably, her eyes tightly shut. White noise surrounded her, but she couldn't make sense of it.

Rough hands grabbed Fleur from her grasp, and Hermione rolled onto all fours, coughing so deeply she began to retch. She took long raking gasps as the spinning in her head began to slow.

Shapes moved around her, but she couldn't make sense of them, her head pounding and pulse racing. A mix of shock and her soaked clothes clinging to her skin was causing her to shiver violently as she sucked in oxygen.

"Is Fleur okay?" a concerned voice squealed above the commotion, and Hermione's eyes snapped open.

Madame Maxine had revived Fleur and was speaking to her in whispered French. Madame Pomfrey was tending to her Grindylow scratch. Fleur looked dazed, feeling the Bubblehead charm around her head with confusion.

Harry and Gabrielle were both sitting up, looks of utter bewilderment on their faces. Professor McGonagall forced them to wrap themselves in thick woollen blankets as they shivered. Hermione felt a stab of guilt as Harry tenderly touched the deep rope-burn on his wrist.

She collapsed onto her back, still taking in deep breaths.

"Very well done, Ms Granger," a soft voice said next to her.

Dumbledore was standing beside her, beaming. Hermione groaned in reply, causing the Headmaster to chuckle.

"Excuse me, I need to have a conversation," he said, gently nodding toward the water's edge. Mer-chieftainess Murcus was floating there, looking just as fierce as she had in the water. Though now, her warm smile had returned.

Hermione's view was suddenly filled with a shrieking Ginny who pulled her to her feet and into a crushing hug.

"I thought you were dead!" Ginny howled as numerous hands thumped Hermione on the back.

It was all too much, and Hermione's head was throbbing. A blanket was thrown over her shoulders as the crowd marched her toward the judging platform, chanting hysterically as Ginny shouted into Hermione's ear. Hermione already missed the peace from the lake.

"Cedric came back about 15 minutes ago, and he was well within the hour," Ginny said. "You should've seen the smirk on his face, cheeky git. He only knew where to go because you told him!"

Hermione didn't care. Cedric could take the win, she was just happy to be alive. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

"And Krum screwed up the Transfiguration on his head, and the spell failed after about twenty minutes," she continued. "He came back to the surface and was disqualified. You should have seen Karkaroff's face. He was _livid_."

Ginny took a deep breath.

What happened down there anyway? Coming back up with an unconscious champion, _her _hostage AND Harry?! I _have_ to hear this!"

Hermione shook her head as they reached the judge's table. That was a story for later.

The crowd of people fell back as Dumbledore approached the table, leaning down to whisper in the other judge's ears.

Someone walked up next to Hermione, and a gentle hand touched her shoulder. She knew who it was before she even turned to look.

"Hermione," Fleur murmured, her voice laced with weariness. Her eyes were back to their peaceful blue. "I… I do not know what to say. I should have remembered that Grindylow nails carry a hallucinogenic. You… saved me."

Hermione smiled weakly. Her exhausted brain didn't have the capacity to process what had just happened.

"Attention!" Dumbledore's voice boomed and the crowd hushed. Fleur's hand dropped from Hermione's shoulder.

"The judges have deliberated with Mer-chieftainess Murcus and amongst ourselves, and we have reached a verdict."

An excited murmur whipped through the crowd.

"Ms Delacour performed the Bubblehead charm to great effect," he continued. "She entered the lake with the charm active and exited the lake with the charm active. Her hostage was also returned safe and within the time limit. Technically, this is all the task requires."

Dumbledore's eyes darted briefly to a triumphant looking Madame Maxine.

"She returned second-equal. For these reasons, Ms Delacour is awarded 43 points."

The section of the crowd clad in silver and blue of Beauxbatons roared with glee.

Fleur turned to Hermione, her mouth open in shock.

"That is not fair," she said as a Beauxbatons chant rang around the grandstands. "I would not have even found the hostages without you, let alone made it out alive. I deserve zero points."

"We saved each other in there, okay?" Hermione replied. "Just take the stupid points."

Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the crowd fell silent again.

"Ms Granger performed an altered version of the _Bullasphaera _charm to great effect. However, upon exiting the lake, the charm was not active. This is technically a breach of the competition rules."

Hermione's heart sank.

The Hogwarts students gasped, and a few boos rang through the crowd.

"However," Dumbledor continued, raising his voice, "Mer-chieftainess Murcus has informed me that Ms Granger's charm was interfered with by another champion, resulting in its failure. Ms Granger showed immense courage and selflessness in making sure that participants she had no responsibility for made it to the surface. Her hostage was returned safely and within the time limit."

The Hogwarts students quickly changed their tune and began to cheer. Ginny was encouraging the crowd, shouting "immense courage!" repeatedly as she pumped her fists.

"Ms Granger finished second-equal," Dumbledore pressed, "Taking all details into consideration, she will be awarded 40 points."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief. It was over.

A giant golden scoreboard appeared next to the judge's table, each champion's name emblazoned on it. Their scores from the first task were listed; Fleur with 47, Hermione with 39, Krum with 32 and Cedric with 0.

The next column auto-filled with the now completed scores from the second task. Cedric had scored a perfect 50, Krum a zero. The champions' names shifted into order, Fleur's name sitting proudly at the top.

"This means Fleur Delacour is leading the Triwizard Tournament heading into the Third task," Dumbledore concluded, barely audible over the roar from the Beauxbatons students. "This will be held on June 24th."

Multiple hands thumped Fleur on the back as she smiled unconvincingly at her admirers.

Cedric came bounding from the crowd toward them, his rosy cheeks beaming.

"Congratulations!" he yelled as the students around them streamed back toward the castle in a festival atmosphere. "We did it!"

Hermione didn't have the energy to feel excited. She barely had the strength to keep her eyes open. She just wanted to forget the whole ordeal.

"How did ya'll find it?" Cedric babbled. "I gotta say, I owe you one Hermione. That sewage pipe trail led me right to where I needed to be. I took a wrong turn at one point and ended up in this massive eels' nest! I hightailed it out of there quickly, I think I might have woken it up though-"

"Cedric," Fleur interrupted, her eyes glancing at Hermione who was blinking wearily. "Let's talk about this later."

"Sure!" he exclaimed. "Are you two going to the after-party?"

Fleur smiled thinly.

"Maybe," she said.

Cedric opened his mouth to reply but was swept away by chanting Ilvermorny students, eager to hear him re-tell his adventure.

Hermione noticed Harry walking toward her, beaming. She began to move toward him, but a soft hand wrapping around her forearm stopped her.

"Hermione," Fleur said quietly as the crowd streamed past them. "Meet me at the Beech tree tonight. Please."

Hermione gently prised Fleur's hand from her arm.

"I meant what I said in the lake," Hermione replied tiredly. "It's too late, Fleur."

"I just want to show you something. I am not asking for forgiveness, only for you to listen. I will bring Gabrielle too. She will help."

"I don't-"

"Please. I will tell you everything. I know I am pushing my luck asking this of you but please just consider it," Fleur interjected as Harry reached them. "No more secrets, okay? 9 o'clock tonight. It will not take long."

Harry threw Fleur a dirty look as he pulled Hermione into a tight hug before she could reply. She melted into his arms, feeling the tension of the past hour finally release.

When he let her go, Fleur was gone.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You promise to take me to the party after this?" Gabrielle asked as she leant against the cool wood of the Beech tree.

"Yes," Fleur sighed. "But not for long. I am exhausted, and you are too young to be there anyway."

Gabrielle huffed as she waved her wand. The blue flames that flickered in the jars around them grew brighter as their warmth washed over them.

"I do not know why you even want me here," Gabrielle replied after a moment. "You are the one who has messed things up with Hermione, not me. I do not know what I am even supposed to say."

"You could thank her for saving your life today."

"I could have done that at the lake if you had not whisked me away before I could speak to her. Why am I really here?"

Fleur chewed on her lip for a moment as she gazed out over the dark grounds. The Whomping Willow creaked in the difference. She turned toward Gabrielle.

"I am going to tell her everything about Amandine."

The light of the flames flickered over Gabrielle's shocked face.

"I need you to validate what I say as she does not trust me anymore," Fleur finished.

"And you think that is wise?"

"We cannot live in fear of her, Gabrielle. I do not regret what I did over Christmas break."

"You do not regret her kicking your ass in another duel?"

Fleur shoved Gabrielle playfully.

"I may have lost," Fleur replied, "but standing up to her was the right thing to do. I thought to push Hermione away was the best choice to keep her safe, but it just means Amandine gets what she wants. I am not going to live by her rules anymore."

"You do not think it's too late to fix things with Hermione?"

"Maybe," Fleur replied. "But she does not know what I did yet. She deserves the whole truth, and I will fight to win her back until she tells me to stop."

"How romantic of you."

"Oh, shut up."

Gabrielle smiled slightly, but her eyes were crinkled with worry.

"Amandine will come for both of you if you start a relationship," she murmured.

"She will come for us regardless."

Fleur checked her watch. 9:30pm. Gabrielle sighed and blew into her hands, shifting from foot to foot.

The door of the Beauxbatons carriage was thrown open, and several students streamed out, chanting the school song, their pockets filled with bottles that clinked loudly.

One of the boys noticed Fleur and Gabrielle and beckoned them over.

Gabrielle began to move, but Fleur gripped her arm.

"She's not coming, Fleur," Gabrielle whined. "You promised you would take me to the party, I do not want to miss the best parts!"

"I will take you, just give her a bit more time to get here."

"It is not like she got lost on the way!"

The Beauxbatons boy shrugged and ran to catch up to the group who were already halfway to the castle.

Gabrielle huffed loudly. Fleur released her arm and turned away, re-lighting the flames that had been blown out.

"I finally get to come to Hogwarts," Gabrielle snapped, "and instead of doing anything _remotely_ fun, I get held hostage by a bunch of Merpeople. And then, when I think I can celebrate my survival, I have to stand in the freezing cold with my sister to wait for a girl who wants nothing to do with her!"

"Is that not what siblings are for?" Fleur quipped.

"If that is the case, you should have asked Amandine!"

"You are a smart ass, do you know that?"

"It must run in the family," a voice interrupted.

Fleur whirled around.

Hermione was walking toward them from the direction of the lake. Her arms were folded tightly against her body, and she looked exhausted.

She stopped a few feet before the sisters and waited expectantly.

"You came," Fleur breathed.

"I don't know why," Hermione replied. "Everyone told me not to come. _I _told me not to come. And yet here I am."

"You are very late," Gabrielle remarked grumpily, and Fleur hushed her.

Hermione smiled slightly.

"This means nothing," Hermione continued.

"Of course," Fleur said quickly.

"If I want to leave, I will."

"That is fine."

"I'm just here to listen to what you have to say, then I'm going."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes as the two older girls stared at each other. She looked longingly after the Beauxbatons group that had now entered the castle.

"Firstly though," Hermione added, "show me your trick. I can't believe I didn't work it out earlier and I need to see it for myself."

Fleur threw a glance behind her to make sure they were alone. She took a few steps back and closed her eyes.

The transformation was quick.

Her arms and legs shortened and her torso thinned out. Sharp claws sprouted from her fingernails, as a silvery fur coat grew thickly over her body. Her face morphed around her growing snout, and her ears became pointed. The only part of Fleur that was now recognisable was the colour of her eyes.

Hermione raised her eyebrows as the Speropax now stood before her.

"An Animagus at 17," Hermione mused, "that's quite the accomplishment."

The Speropax barked, causing Gabrielle to jump.

"It gets less impressive the more times you see it," Gabrielle grunted.

A moment later, Fleur was standing in human form again. Hermione sat down at the base of the old Beech tree.

"Now," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm all ears."


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Heeeeeey… hey... how ya'll doing…. I'm back with an update that's only a couple of weeks late this time. This chapter has been coming for awhile as we were building toward the big villain reveal… and here she is.**

**I'm super excited to hear your thoughts on Amandine. I thought over this chapter a bit and chopped and changed things a lot to make the direction I wanna go work. Every chapter is set for the rest of this fic, and I'm super excited! Each update is going to have the stakes raise higher and higher and it's so fun to write.**

**Thank you all again so much for your thoughtful reviews. I appreciate them all, and am so happy to hear so many of you are enjoying my story. The Fleurmione ships continues to sail strong. Lesh go.**

o-o-o-o-o-o

Fleur took a deep breath.

"Well," she said, as she beckoned Gabrielle over, "I will start with the Speropax."

The sister's silvery hair shone like delicate silk in the moonlight as they stood side by side, rolling up the sleeves of their robes.

An identical fine-lined tattoo of a Speropax was present on both girls' arms. Gabrielle's tattoo perked up its ears at the sudden exposure to light; Fleur's was chasing its tail.

Hermione remembered seeing this tattoo on Fleur at the party after the first task. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"The women of the Delacour family can all transform into a Speropax," Fleur continued. "It comes naturally to us. I did my first successful transformation at the age of 11. Gabrielle is still learning."

Gabrielle flushed slightly as she rolled down her sleeve.

"I have nearly got it," she muttered. "Just cannot work out how to grow a tail."

Hermione had to suppress a laugh.

"It is a secret among our family," Fleur continued. "We are meant to tell no one as technically we are all un-registered Animagi. We do not want to be tracked."

"Even the Beauxbatons pupils do not know that Fleur can do it," Gabrielle chimed in. "They think that she just brought our families Speropax with her for good luck. Shows you how self-absorbed they all are to not notice they have never seen Fleur and the Speropax in the same room."

"It's really impressive," Hermione replied. "You told me it was only a year old, though?"

"That is how old our family's Speropax is," Fleur said sheepishly. "That is what I had told everyone else, so I had to keep up the story."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"I wanted to," Fleur quickly added. "I dropped a few hints to you, and I always made sure to be friendly to you whenever I came across you in my Animagi form."

"Oh a friendly dog, how did I miss that hint?" Hermione quipped. Fleur failed to hide the smile that comment pulled.

"Well, I think you always pet me a little more enthusiastically than the others. In a way, I think you always knew."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, really. Those head scratches were very-"

"EXCUSE ME," Gabrielle interrupted, a disgusted look on her face. "No flirting in my presence! Finish the damn story, Fleur."

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling as Fleur threw a not so subtle look of annoyance at her younger sister.

"Fine," Fleur huffed. "Back to the story. Do you remember what I told you about what the Speropax symbolises?"

Hermione squinted her eyes slightly as she thought back to the detention they shared when she first asked about it.

"Yes," she said slowly. "You said it's a symbol of hope and peace. That they are only born during times of strife."

Gabrielle looked impressed as Fleur nodded.

"That is correct. I transformed for the first time soon after Amandine was caught for her crimes at Durmstrang. I remember it so vividly. I had been trying to do it for over 18 months and could not get the hang of it. One minute I was watching my parents weeping on the floor, the next I had this sensation take over me and suddenly, I had transformed."

Fleur paused for a moment, lost in the memory. Gabrielle glanced at her sister.

"The women in our family have been changing into the Speropax for hundreds of years," Gabrielle quickly chimed in as Fleur's eyes clouded slightly. "We pride ourselves on it. People feel safe when a Speropax is around. They are admired in France. I believe our family got a little arrogant at letting that reputation proceed us. That is why when Amandine did those things…" She trailed off.

The demeanour of both Delacour sisters had changed the moment Amandine had come up. Gabrielle was now staring at the ground, hands deep in her pockets, and Fleur was playing with the golden bracelets wrapped around her wrists. Hermione cleared her throat.

"You don't have to do this," she said sympathetically, meeting Fleur's eye. "I can see Amandine is a… hard subject for you both. This can wait for another day."

"No," Fleur replied quickly. "I do. I promised you the truth, and that is what I will give you. It is true we find it difficult to talk about our past. It has been-"

"A nightmare," Gabrielle finished.

Fleur reached out and squeezed her sister's hand.

"I could talk all night about the complicated relationship we have with Amandine," Fleur continued. "But I think it is better explained if I show you."

Hermione frowned in confusion as Fleur drew her wand from her pocket. She waved it in a wide circle, and black smoke poured from its tip as her wand moved. The smoke settled quickly, creating a large circular black backdrop.

Fleur took a deep breath and touched her wand to her temple. She looked slightly pained as the wand tip began to glow, her brow furrowed in concentration.

The glowing ball of light continued to grow as Fleur's brow furrowed in concentration. After a few moments, she relaxed and arced her wand at the black circle she had created.

The ball of light bobbed over before creating a bright flash that made Hermione shield her eyes.

When she opened them, she had to blink a few times to believe what she was seeing.

A scene was playing out against the black circle like a projector playing an old, grainy movie. The colours were slightly blurred as it showed Fleur standing outside of an enormous Tudor style house. She was wearing the same outfit she had worn when she met Hermione at The Burrow, though her makeup was perfect and the sun was just starting to set.

The real-life Fleur sat down next to Hermione and leant against the Beech tree.

"This is what I wanted to show you," Fleur murmured as Gabrielle sat down next to her. "This happened before I met with you that night over Christmas break. Now, you will see."

Hermione's attention was drawn back to the scene playing out in front of her as her heart began to race.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"_Merlin, _it is cold out there!" Fleur hissed as she entered her house, shaking her coat off and handing it to the waiting house elf. "This new law that forbids apparating directly out of bars is doing my head in!"

Fleur slammed the door, the noise rattling the pictures that lined the dark oak hallway in front of her.

"Will you be staying in for the rest of the evening, Mademoiselle?" the elf squeaked, its long brown nose bobbing with each word. It handed Fleur a towel which she roughly tousled through her hair.

"I have just come back for dinner," Fleur huffed. "Maman sent her Patronus saying I needed to come home immediately. I was enjoying the most delicious Merlot at the bar."

The elf's eyes widened slightly as Fleur kicked her boots off, mud splattering the cream walls. Fleur looked guiltily at the mess.

"Do not clean that up, I will deal with it after dinner," she added quickly. "Sorry Coco."

"All fine, Mademoiselle. Your mother is in the parlour," Coco whispered. The elf glanced fearfully behind her. The hallway was pitch black, and it suddenly struck Fleur as odd that no candles were lit.

She paused, the towel still tangled in her hair.

"Has something happened?" she said carefully.

"I should not say," Coco squeaked, her eyes flicking toward a nearby doorframe.

"I thought Maman just wanted me home for family dinner? Is something wrong? "

Coco's eyes darted toward the doorframe again.

"Coco happened to overhear Mademoiselle Amandine announcing some news," the elf replied in a harsh whisper, "that Monsieur and Madame Delacour regretted to hear."

Fleur's heart sunk.

"I thought Amandine had left," she said, her voice hollow. Coco shook her head sadly.

Fleur glanced at the grand staircase in front of her. She could easily sneak up it and into her room and avoid Amandine altogether. Maybe they hadn't heard the door slam.

Suddenly, a racking sob echoed down the hallway, and Fleur knew that wasn't the case.

"Where is Gabrielle?" Fleur asked quickly.

"Madame Delacour told her to go to her room shortly after the news was announced. She was quite upset."

Fleur bit her lip.

"Stay out here, Coco," she finally said. "And I forbid you to hit your head against that doorframe for telling me that news."

"Thank you, Mademoiselle, very kind of you."

Fleur walked slowly down the dark oak hallway. The clicking of her boots sounded like gunshots as they reverberated off the high roofed ceilings.

She glanced at the pictures that cluttered the wall as she walked; their many lavish holidays showing proudly to any guest who may pass. Seychelles, Hawaii, New Zealand, Zurich. Any fool would assume they had the perfect family.

Amandine had stepped out of most of them years ago, not that anyone noticed. No one ever asked about Amandine. A jitter of nerves ran through Fleur's body as she saw the rest of her picture family were now hiding within their frames, peering nervously at her as she passed.

The hallway opened up into their pure marble kitchen. Remy, their chef, should have been concocting a delicious bolognese or searing some scallops by now. But the kitchen was cloaked in darkness.

Fleur gripped her wand tightly in her pocket as she entered the next hallway, and another loud sob reached her ears.

"Maman, you are _so _dramatic," a familiar voice sighed, and Fleur paused for a moment and clenched her eyes painfully shut.

She hated that voice. That voice brought nothing but misery.

"Amandine, I just do not understand _why_,' her mother sobbed, and Fleur resumed her pace. She couldn't let her family deal with whatever new pain Amandine had brought alone.

"We can help you get out of this," her worried father's voice echoed as Fleur grew closer to their voices. "I have contacts, we can hide you-"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Papa," Amandine replied, her tone almost playful. "No one is forcing me to do _anything. _It is an honour. I am one of the youngest to _ever _be chosen, you should be proud!"

Fleur rounded the last corner, her heart racing as the scene in the parlour exploded before her.

Her father was leaning against their large mahogany dresser with his back to Fleur, head down, a glass of port clutched in his hand. The large gold-rimmed mirror resting on the wall in front of him showed pain etched into every fine wrinkle of his face.

Fleur's mother was sitting straight-backed and unblinking on their Chaise sofa, hair slipping out of her usually immaculate bun, dark mascara streaks running down her cheeks.

"Ah, there you are, little sister."

Fleur clenched her jaw as her eyes flickered to the source of the voice.

Amandine was strewn out on the sofa across from her mother, the orange light of the nearby fire flickering across her face.

She wore blue silk robes, bringing out the sharpness of her icy eyes even more than usual. The silver strands of her Veela hair were pulled back into a delicate ponytail, and she exuded confidence in her haphazard demeanour. She took a sip of the red wine in her hand, dark red lipstick staining the glass, and rose to her feet as Fleur entered. Fleur's many years of dealing with her sister recognised this as a sign of intimidation rather than respect.

Amandine was taller and leaner than Fleur; the robes clinging to her ever visible arm muscles. She had recently dyed her eyebrows brown, and had a stare that could make any man shrink into the shadows. Her straight nose and high cheekbones were a staple of the Veela and often drew compliments from gushing strangers about how identical the sisters looked. Fleur hated it.

"Now, wherever have you been?" Amandine asked. Her tone was soft, but there was a bite of condescension in every word she spoke.

"Out," Fleur responded bluntly. She strode over to her mother, crouched down and placed a hand on her knee. Her mother seemed to snap out of her daze, her expression changing to one of fear.

"Out where?" Amandine pressed.

Fleur paused slightly as she caught her father's eye in the mirror. They were wide, and he shook his head so slightly that it could have been mistaken for a twitch.

"With friends in the village," Fleur replied, a moment too slow. "Look."

She flashed her wrist, which still sported the red stamp from the bar she had been at.

Amandine's gaze danced over Fleur's features. She slowly swished her glass of red wine as she took in her sister's posture.

"Why did you call me here?" Fleur asked her mother, dropping her voice. "Are you okay?"

"She didn't call you here," Amandine interrupted, causing Fleur to bristle. "I did."

"It was Maman's Patronus that brought me a message."

"Yes, I asked her to send it."

Fleur slowly licked her lips, suddenly feeling like a bear caught in a trap.

"And why would you use our mother's Patronus instead of your own?" she asked, knowing the answer before the last word had left her lips.

"Because when I send mine, you always seem to have a reason not to come."

Fleur felt her mother's knee tense under her hand. Her brain began to whir as she noticed her father grow paler.

"Why is that?" Amandine pressed. She was still standing, and her shadow loomed over Fleur and her mother. Amandine slid a casual hand into the pocket of her robe, eyebrows raised in fake sadness. "All I want is to see my dear sister, and time and time again, I am rejected! My ego? Bruised!"

"I am a busy person," Fleur said sharply, refusing to play into Amandine's game. "I have school. You have only asked to see me twice, and that is in the past month. You are not even allowed to be in Britain, and yet somehow you always seem to be in Hogsmeade like you own the place."

"Well, I did look at buying shares in The Three Broomsticks," Amandine quipped. Fleur's face remained impassive. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were avoiding me."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because I have deliberately cleared your schedule while you are at Hogwarts so I could speak to you and you still say you are 'too busy'."

Fleur felt her face begin to redden as anger bubbled in her stomach.

"How do you have the authority to do that?" she seethed. A smirk flickered so quickly on Amandine's face that Fleur almost missed it. Almost. She knew Amandine was toying with her and was loving every second of it. Her fake hurt expression had never left her face.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

Fleur knew this was meant to be a joke, but the words chilled her to the bone. Their father cleared his throat.

"Amandine, you shouldn't be interfering with Fleur's studies like that," he said gruffly. "She has a full course load to take on, plus training for the Triwizard Tournament. I'm sure she would see you if she could."

"No Papa," Fleur interrupted, and Amandine's playful facade finally slid off her face. "I would not. I have no desire to see her."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father's shoulders slump.

"Your words, they cut me," Amandine replied, a steely look in her eye. "I clear your schedule, and you do what with your free time?"

"Whatever I want."

"Like spending time with the Mudblood?"

The slur zapped through Fleur's body, and before she knew it, she was on her feet. Her mother stayed rigid behind her.

"That is a disgusting word," Fleur spat, "and your casual use of it shows your complete lack of class."

"Your opinion on class is laughable," Amandine retorted, "I've seen the types you hang out with."

"You have no idea who I hang out with when I'm at schoo-"

"Ever had someone say they saw the Speropax in a place that you hadn't been that day?" Amandine interrupted, and Fleur felt her stomach drop. Amandine's eyes sparkled with glee at the swing of momentum. "Ever had anyone say they saw it hanging out by the greenhouses when you _knew_ you were in Potions during that time? Thought it was simply a mistake on their part? Think again."

Fleur's words were choked in her throat. How could she have been so stupid? _Of course_ that was how Amandine was sneaking around. The only people that knew the Delacour secret were their own family. Anyone else wouldn't take a second glance at a Speropax on the Hogwarts grounds. They would think it was _her_.

"I've watched you gaze hopelessly at Hermione Granger from across the grounds," Amandine continued, her voice dripping with contempt. "I've watched you follow her around like a lost puppy. I've seen how obsessed with her you are. I've already told you that I know everything there is to know about her, and it seems you do too. It's pathetic."

"She's just a friend," Fleur retorted, but her mouth was dry.

"You're a liar."

"Why do you care so much? Why are you stalking me? Why are you stalking _her_?!"

"Because it's in my best interests."

"What are you talking about!?"

"Amandine!" their father interrupted, and both girls spun towards him. "That's enough. The girl is harmless, and Fleur is right. You have no right following her around."

"That's cute," Amandine replied condescendingly. "See, when you thought I was doing it to keep her safe, you had no problem with it. Even asked for updates!"

Fleur felt her heart tremble with betrayal. Her father took a step forward, pointing a stern finger.

"I never asked you to stalk her," he countered, "I asked you to check in from time to time, make sure she was doing okay. I only let you go to Hogsmeade because you have been performing so well in the family business in Paris. I thought you deserved to expand. Instead, you play this devious trick. I thought we raised you better than this!"

Amandine let out a loud laugh.

"And yet, you knew I wasn't allowed to leave France through Ministry order and still encouraged me to do it?" she quipped. "Even told me ways to get into Hogsmeade undetected! The law is okay to be stretched if it involves making _you _money, isn't that right? Don't lecture me on rules."

"Don't you speak to me like-"

"I made you your money Papa," Amandine interrupted. "Lots of it. And you didn't care what I was doing as long as your bank balance went up. Your arrogance blinds you. So in my spare time, I pursued a side hustle. I watched your daughter become a sympathetic blood traitor and decided to do something about it. I've told you what is going to happen tonight. In case you didn't catch that, this is my official notice of resignation."

"Who do you think you ar-"?

"Enough!"

Fleur's mother's voice rang out, and all three people in the room spun to her. She was hunched over, hands tightly clasped on top of her knees.

"Amandine, we let you join the business in an attempt to get your life back on track," she continued. "You completed your sentence, and we thought you were better than this. You were doing so well! And now… now you're talking about getting…"

She trailed off.

Fleur stood in stunned silence.

The air in the room felt thick, the heat from the fire too hot, and she felt herself taking deeper and deeper breaths. She wanted to run away where no one could find her and never come return. She wanted Hermione to hold her and tell her it would be okay. She wanted to cry and scream and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. She didn't trust any of them. Her own parents had known Amandine was following her and did nothing about it.

Amandine cocked her head, her eyes flicking between her parents.

"I picked the winning team," she said menacingly. "And you are lucky enough to witness it. Now, Fleur-"?

Fleur snapped herself from her thoughts as their gaze met. The room instantly cooled.

"Unfortunately, I was a bit busy tonight, so I don't know what you've been up to. So, I'm going to ask again. Where else did you go?"

"Fuck you," Fleur replied, and Amandine let out an icy chuckle.

"You look tired, Fleur," their father interrupted, striding over and sitting next to her mother. "You should go to bed. Hurry along, now."

A distant memory flashed into Fleur's mind of the last time her father warned her like this. It was when he had to step in to stop the duel between the two sisters. A duel Fleur lost badly.

But she couldn't even look at her father, let alone take his advice. She was sick of being ruled by her family and their bad choices. She was sick of hearing their excuses. She had to get out.

Before Fleur could react, Amandine strode swiftly toward her and snapped her thin fingers around Fleur's chin in a vice grip.

"What secrets are you hiding from me, little sister?" she hissed as her eyes bore into Fleur's.

_No! _Fleur thought frantically. She concentrated all her might on building steel walls around her mind like Madame Maxine had taught her, frantically shoving all memories behind them.

"Nothing! I have just been with friends at _The Dancing Imp_," Fleur snapped as she swatted Amandine's hand from her chin. "There, happy now?"

Her older sister's eyes continued to bore into her own, and her hastily built walls began to shake. Amandine's forehead creased ever so slightly before she raised her thin eyebrow.

"Oh, you're going to use Occlumency this time, are you?" she said softly, a smirk creeping along her mouth. "Didn't like how I looked into your mind so easily the other night? Well, if you insist."

"Amandine, stop!" their father exclaimed, but it was too late.

Fleur cried out as a headache seared through her brain and her mental walls crumbled. All her memories rushed forward like a dam bursting, flickering across Fleur's vision as Amandine dragged them from the dark corners of her mind.

_Fleur sitting with her friends at The Dancing Imp, openly ignoring a hopeful man next to her. He offers her a drink, she doesn't hear as she gazes into the distance._

Fleur squeezed her eyes shut, willing the Legilimency connection to break. She could feel thin strands of Amandines magic picking through her thoughts, like fingers flipping through pages of a book. She knew what Amandine was trying to find.

_Fleur laying on her bed staring at a golden Galleon. "I hope everything is okay. I miss you" is inscribed around the edge of the coin. Tears stream down her face as she taps the coin and opens her mouth, but she doesn't know what to reply. _

Fleur could hear urgent voices in the background, but they may have well been a thousand miles away. Amandine had a vice grip on her chin again.

_Fleur knocking heavily on the door of the Ilvermorny truck. Her fine robes drenched and clinging to her body, hair plastered to her scalp. Snow flurries down from the muted grey sky. Professor Fontaine appears at the door in a royal blue dressing gown, perplexed, as Tess stands with her arms crossed behind him._

"_Ms Delacour, it is two in the morning! You must stop this incessant knocking!" Fontaine exclaims._

_Fleur peers around him to look at the seething Tess._

"_Tess, please," Fleur says quickly. "I told you we were going to this ball as friends-"_

"_You knew how I felt about you!" Tess cries as Fontaine looks exasperatedly between them. "You shouldn't have asked me to go with you!"_

"_I thought it would be okay-"_

"_What about me seeing you making out with Hermione Granger did you think was okay!?"_

"_Enough!" Fontaine booms. Bleary-eyed Ilvermorny students appear at their doors. Cedric emerges from his room and puts an arm around a weeping Tess._

"_It's time for you to go back to your carriage, Ms Delacour," Fontaine says firmly._

_The door slams in Fleur's face as her shoulders droop._

The memory dissolves.

"No, no," Fleur whimpered as she knew the memory that was coming next. She tried to quickly rebuild the mental walls, but they collapsed like sand in the howling wind. "This is private-"

_Fleur standing under the Beech tree with Hermione. Inky darkness surrounds them, punctured only by the glowing blue flames flickering in jars. A gramophone plays softly behind them._

_Fleur's heart races as her eyes flicker to Hermione's soft lips. She craves them like she's never craved anything in her life. She's imagined kissing those lips a thousand times._

_Hermione's gentle brown eyes flick up to meet Fleur's blue, and she can't stop herself. _

Fleur gritted her teeth as she felt Amandines magic clinging tightly to this memory, not letting it slip away.

_An invisible force pulls them together. As their lips meet, a rush of euphoria pours through her body in a way she's never felt. Hermione's lips are impossibly soft, and she's instantly addicted. She wants to touch every inch of the girl in front of her and never stop. She pulls their bodies closer, moaning softly as Hermione's hand lightly strokes her face._

"This is private," Fleur said again, her voice stronger this time. The outline of Amandine slowly came into focus.

_The kissing grows deeper. Small moans escape from Hermione's lips, and it takes everything in her power not to pin her to the tree behind them and tear her dress robes off. _

Her sister's eyes were closed, a deep frown on her face as she concentrated. She was whispering quickly under her breath as Fleur felt the claws in her head start to lose their grip.

_She knew she was falling in love. It was the only thing she had been sure about in her whole life._

"Enough!" Fleur shouted, and the walls of her mind slammed down.

Amandine's eyes widened in shock as she stumbled backwards slightly, her hand clasping her forehead.

Fleur realised she was sweating and panting slightly. Her father gently wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders as her mother silently wept behind her. He placed a cool hand against Fleur's sweating forehead, but she barely noticed. Her tunnel vision was directed at her now furious sister.

Amandine gathered herself quickly, her grimace turning into a sneer as she straightened.

"I knew it," she hissed. "I knew you were dating her. You've been lying through your teeth to me! You're a disgrace!"

"_You _are the disgrace!" Fleur shouted back. She threw her father's arms from her shoulders, and he fell back onto the couch.

"What gives you the right to prod through my mind the minute you think I'm not telling you something!" Fleur continued, adrenaline coursing through her veins. A headache began to thump behind her eyes from the intrusion of Amandine's magic. "All you do is bully this family around like a dictator! Well, guess what? You are just a washed-up criminal who is just looking for the next person to follow like a puppy! I do not care what anyone says, you are evil to your core!"

The room fell into silence.

To Fleur's surprise, Amandine began to smile.

"Well, that was a bit dramatic," she jeered. Her slender fingers reached into her pocket, and Fleurs hand twitched toward her wand. But Amandine withdrew a tightly bound scroll, the stamp of the Dark Mark glueing it tight.

"You see little sister, you missed my big news," Amandine continued, holding the scroll out loosely. "Though it is clear you do not view me that high, that may change after tonight."

Fleur glanced at the scroll but made no movement toward it. Amandine sighed as she pocketed it again.

"I have been presented the honour of joining the Dark Lord's innermost circle," Amandine continued, her voice oozing with pride. "I was just telling Maman and Papa that the ceremony will be held here, at our home, tonight."

Fleur's reply froze in her throat. She knew Amandine had been sneaking around, but _this_?

The tick of the clock jumped around the room, waiting for somebody to speak as it claimed the silence.

"What ceremony?" Fleur finally responded, her voice deep.

"I'm getting the Dark Mark."

Fleur's mother let out a gentle sob and leant her head on her husband's shoulder.

Fleur blinked.

"The… the what?" Fleur stammered.

"The Dark Mark, I'm sure you've heard of it. A few Death Eaters will be here soon to set up. Being my family, you are, of course, welcome to be here for the ceremony. Though if you have this ugly attitude when my friends are here, be aware that there will be consequences."

Fleur whirled around to her parents.

"You two have known about this for _hours _now!" Fleur exploded. "And you have not done anything!? You cannot let her do this!"

Amandine chuckled softly.

"Fleur, I am 24 years old. It's not like I need them to sign a permission slip," she goaded. "Though their blessing would be well received. I don't want to be embarrassed in front of the Dark Lord."

"You must have alerted the Ministry," Fleur continued, ignoring a scoff from Amandine. "Or… or somebody!?"

Her parents exchanged glances.

"We were trying to understand," her father said, "we were trying to convince her otherwise. There's no need to alert the authorities if she does not do it."

"She JUST said she is going to!?"

"She has not done anything yet. We just need a bit more time to discuss. She is our daughter, Fleur, we are not going to imprison our own child if there's a way to reach a compromise."

"But you reach a point!" Fleur exclaimed, "where that is not an excuse any more! You cannot let her do this! Think of the pain she will cause, think of the pain she already _has._"

"We do not agree with it," her mother interjected. "And we only hope that she will make the right choice. That is how she has been raised."

Fleur gaped at her parents. They looked so fragile huddled together on their lavish couch, hiding behind their wishful thinking. She had never seen two people so weak.

A loud _crack _sounded from outside.

"Ah, here they are now!" Amandine said excitedly, all venom from earlier suddenly lost. "If you aren't going to atleast put a smile on your faces then I would prefer if you left. You look ugly when you frown, Fleur. You'll get wrinkles before you're 30 at this rate."

Amandine strode across the room and peered through the curtains, and Fleur made up her mind. She was going to make the decision that her parents wouldn't, regardless of the consequences.

Fleur whispered frantically into her wand and slashed it in a wide arc. Her Patronus burst forth, a gleaming Speropax, and darted forward.

Amandine spun around as the Patronus passed, quickly drawing her own wand. Her spell missed it by inches and crashed into the bookcase. Books tumbled through the translucent Patronus as it disappeared through the wall.

"What did you do!?" Amandine hissed as a loud knock sounded on the front door.

"What our parents should have done a long time ago," Fleur replied, tightening the grip on her wand. "The Ministry will be here soon. I am not going to let you do this. This has gone far enough."

The door creaked open, and Fleur heard Coco's squeaky voice speaking.

Amandine's eyes flashed as she waved her own wand so quickly that Fleur barely had time to react.

Two spells crashed into their parent's chests, slamming them against the back of the couch and immediately immobilising them.

"You know what, little sister?" Amandine hissed as Fleur moved into a battle stance, clutching her wand with both hands. "I've had _quite _enough of you and your insistence on being a pain in my ass. All I'm doing is trying to help, and yet you haven't shown me an inch of respect in _years_. It's time I taught you a real lesson. No daddy this time to save you."

Fleur's nails dug into her palms as she clenched her wand.

Amandine moved impossibly quickly.

She swung her arm wide, and a blue spell shot toward Fleur so fast that she didn't have time to react. It slashed burning hot across her cheek, singing her hair as it crashed into the mirror behind. The glass smashed into a thousand pieces and clattered loudly onto the wooden floorboards.

Fleur smelt her own blood as she began to stab her wand forward, but Amandine had already sent three more spells in her direction. Fleur stopped mid-motion and pivoted, throwing up a hasty shield charm instead which barely deflected the vicious magic.

There was spell after spell. The magic crashed around the room as Fleur barely had time to protect herself. They moved fast and slow, burned bright and dull, and poured from Amandine's wand without effort. She moved masterfully, her feet sweeping along the ground poetically like they knew where to go before she had even thought of the next spell.

All the while, Amandine never lost her composure. Her eyes burned bright blue as they stayed in a piercing glare, her wand blurring as the spells burst from her wand. She performed hand motions Fleur had never seen before, enchanted magic so skillfully that it was like a part of her body.

She wanted blood.

Fleur finally managed to send a Stunning spell, and it collided mid-air with one of Amandine's. They ricocheted off of each other, smashing into a nearby family portrait. A massive black mark burnt into the photo and obscured the entire family.

Amandine threw a quick curse, and Fleur stumbled backward slightly as she deflected it. Her momentarily loss of balance was what Amandine had been waiting for.

A blood-red spell shot out of her wand and ducked under Fleur's too slow shield charm. It smashed into Fleur's ribs, and the effect was instant.

Fleur fell to the ground screaming, and her wand clattered from her hand. Her limbs stiffened, twitching horribly as pain coursed through her body. It bubbled in her veins and seared her lungs and ripped at her brain and screamed into her ears and burnt under her fingernails and stabbed in between her ribs. She didn't know if she was crying or screaming as her body began to convulse.

Just when it began to fade, another spell smashed into her forehead, snapping her head back. The pain lit up every part of her face as her lips felt like they were being torn off. Her eyes rolled backwards. She wanted to shout but couldn't find the breath.

Thin hands grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and lifted her up effortlessly, slamming her against the wall. Fleur barely felt it as the pain rolled in slapping waves through her body.

"Have you learnt your lesson now, little sister?" Amandine whispered venomously, her face inches from Fleur's.

The pain abruptly subsided, and Fleur's head drooped, her energy sapped. Amandine let her fall forward slightly before slamming her against the wall again. Fleur let out a gasp of pain as her head whacked against the hardwood and stars sprung into her vision. Amandine grabbed Fleur's chin and snapped her head up, so their eyes met.

"If I'm not afraid to use the Cruciatus curse on my own sister," she continued, "then I think you'll understand that my warning is true. Do _not _interact with the Mudblood again, or Harry Potter. It's for your own good. You don't realise what you're doing. If I hear you've so much as _looked _in their direction, there will be hell to pay. I won't take it as easy on you as I did this time."

Fleur wheezed as her body felt like lead. She had no retort, no energy to fight back. She had been defeated in a matter of seconds. Amandine was better than her in every way, and she couldn't do anything about it. She felt weak. She felt powerless.

So she did the only thing she had energy for. She coughed, and flecks of blood sprayed onto Amandine's face.

Amandine's jaw locked with rage as her fists tightened and pinched Fleur's shoulders. Fleur braced herself, waiting for the punishment.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

The sisters broke eye contact and turned to stare at the shadowy doorway.

Bellatrix Lestrange stood in it, hands-on-hips, dark hair tumbling over her eyes. Two men flanked her, one scrawny, the other a block of muscle.

Bellatrix's eyes darted from the immobilised parents to the destroyed chaos of the room, to the frozen sisters. A playful smirk lit up her face as she admired the destruction.

"This is unexpected," Bellatrix continued in her high pitched voice, "though I do love a fight between family. Carry on."

Amandine let go of Fleur's shoulders, and she crumpled to the floor. Fleur clutched her ribs where the Cruciatus curse had hit her, feeling a bruise blooming larger by the second.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that," Amandine said, smoothing back her hair. "My sister just needed to be taught a lesson."

"You have a little something on your face," Bellatrix quipped, brushing her fingers along her own. The two men guffawed with laughter as Amandine flushed red. She quickly wiped her face, the blood from Fleur's cough leaving tiny stains on her silk robes.

"Anyway," Bellatrix waved away. "This room is rather beautiful, even with the mess. The perfect place for the ceremony. Let's get it cleaned up right quick. Where's that elf, it can do it-"

"Actually," Amandine interrupted, and her voice wavered as Bellatrix's eyes narrowed. "We won't be able to have it here tonight."

The three Death Eaters all raised their eyebrows.

"And why's that," the scrawny man rasped. Amandine posture stooped slightly.

"Because my sister has alerted the Ministry that this was happening just moments ago."

The burly man hissed, and Bellatrix's eyes snapped to where Fleur still lay crumpled to the ground.

"How dare she-" the scrawny man began but fell silent as Bellatrix raised her finger.

"Quiet, Yaxley," she hissed, and he fell back into her shadow. "Why were we not alerted of this? Why have you let us come here, you imbecile!"

Fleur couldn't help but feel a sliver of happiness at Bellatrix's tone. She had never heard anyone speak to Amandine like that.

"It just happened," Amandine defended quickly. "Just a moment ago. I haven't brought you into trouble, Ms Lestrange, but we should leave."

"And what about the girl?" the brawny man interrupted, leering his yellow teeth at Fleur's crippled form. "Surely we make her pay for this little trick."

"She has been taught a lesson already," Amandine said quickly. "She won't meddle in my affairs again."

"How very embarrassing for you, Delacour," Bellatrix sighed, and Amandine's jaw clenched. "This is why we tested you for six months to see where your loyalty lay with a family like this."

"And I have proven once again it is with you," Amandine replied. "Look at her, she's a mess. They've all now seen what will happen if they get in my way."

Bellatrix eyed Fleur, smiling wickedly at the glare she got in return. A flicker of recognition suddenly passed over her face.

"Wait, you're the Beauxbatons champion, aren't you?" she said excitedly, clapping her hands like a small child. "Oh, I _forgot_ that your sister was in the Triwizard Tournament! Are you enjoying playing your little game? Amandine, are you just _oozing _with pride to have a little champion in the family?"

Amandine laughed unconvincingly as all the Death Eaters cackled.

Fleur didn't reply. She was burning with hatred for all of them. She tried to lift herself up but pain seared through her ribs and she crumpled back down.

Bellatrix's face stayed in a sly grin as she strode across the room, her thick black boots thumping along the floor. Amandine turned slightly as she strode by, but stopped as Yaxley cleared his throat loudly.

"Not very polite, are you?" Bellatrix asked as she crouched next to Fleur. Fleur had half a mind to cough on her too. "I asked you a question."

"Go to hell," Fleur spat.

Bellatrix cackled.

"Oh, I like her!" she exclaimed as a small crease of worry formed on Amandine's brow. "Did you use the Cruciatus curse?"

"Yes," Amandine said quickly.

"Where?"

Amandine paused.

"It hit her on the chest."

Fleur's eyes darted up to meet her sisters, but Amandine was looking away.

Bellatrix nodded and leant toward Fleur. She smelt like expired perfume and sweat.

"Let me tell you, we _really _don't appreciate when people mess with our plans," she whispered menacingly. "This beating you got tonight? That is _nothing _compared to what I would've done."

She jabbed her pointed fingers hard into Fleur's chest. Her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise when Fleur didn't react.

"Stubborn little thing, aren't you?" Bellatrix continued. "This must be hurting like hell right now. No wonder the Goblet of Fire picked you as a champion. Such a pretty, brave girl."

Fleur suddenly realised what Bellatrix was trying to do and shoved her hand away. Her ribs screamed in protest at the motion, but she kept her face set. Amandine's eyes darted nervously toward them.

"We're going to be seeing you very soon, little girl," Bellatrix continued. "Wouldn't want to miss you being crowned as the grand champion would we? Not when your sister is one of our own."

Bellatrix rose to her feet, swooping her hair out of her eyes and sighing in satisfaction.

"Wel, let's leave before half of the French Ministry arrives, shall we?" she said smartly. She strutted toward the door and flashed a wicked smile at Amandine.

"Your inauguration will be delayed, of course. The Dark Lord will not be happy with the events from tonight. I'll be surprised if you still get the Mark after this debacle."

Amandine's face fell as Bellatrix touched her wand to her own Dark Mark, whispering quickly.

"Come!" she barked and strode down the hallway, the two men in tow.

Amandine glanced down at Fleur.

"I meant what I said," she murmured. "Don't see the Mudblood again. They would've done much worse if they knew what you had been up to. I'll be watching."

Amandine snatched her cloak from its stand as Fleur called after her.

"Why haven't you told them?"

Amandine froze in the doorway.

"You have been saying all these threats to me, but in reality, you have not told them a thing," she continued. "There must be a reason for that. My relationship with Hermione would be like gold to them. You obviously are not fully committed to them if you choose to hide this, so why are you joining them?"

Amandine didn't turn around.

"You don't know anything," she snapped. "I am committed to this cause. This is your last warning. Stop associating with Mudbloods and blood traitors."

With a swish of her cloak, she disappeared into the darkness after the Death Eater's.

Fleur's breaths came in tight gasps as she rose painfully into a sitting position. She gripped her ribs as her head throbbed incessantly.

The light patter of feet peppered the ground, and a moment later, Coco was standing in the doorway, her wide eyes staring at the scene before her.

She clicked her fingers, and Fleur's parents were no longer immobilised.

They rushed to their feet and scrambled toward Fleur, their concerned voices babbling over each other.

Coco waved her hands, and the room slowly began to repair itself. The glass of the mirror clinked as it reformed and became full again. Feathers floated back into pillows, the rug straightened out, and liquid collected together and carefully refilled toppled bottles.

"Where does it hurt?" Fleur's father breathed frantically. "Let me check you over, you may have a broken-"

"Where did the spells hit?" her mother babbled over him. "Maybe Remy can mix together a Drought of Peace or some mead with a dash of Mandrake syrup for your-"

"We couldn't interrupt when she was doing Legilimency, it could have caused you brain damag-"

"You may just need some rest-"

"Stop!" Fleur shouted, the volume of her voice causing a searing pain through her brain. "I am fine. What are you going to do about Amandine?"

Her parents looked at her in shock. The scraping of wood echoed across the room as Coco pushed the Chaise sofa back into place.

"She attacked me!" Fleur shouted, wincing as she adjusted her position. "There were Death Eater's in our house! She is getting the Dark Mark! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!"

Her parents gaped at her.

"When the Ministry arrives, we will tell them what she did to you," her father replied. "We do not condone any form of violence."

"And you will tell them that she is a Death Eater?"

Her parents exchanged glances.

"She has been protecting you from them, Fleur," her father replied. "She has not been passing on information. We still have time to get her back."

"Protecting me? She has _joined _them! She _attacked_ me!"

"You heard those Death Eater's," her mother added. "They said she will not get the Mark now. She is not getting into the inner circle. She will open her eyes to this soon."

"We just need to reason with her, Fleur," her father finished. "She gets fanatical about these things and then she goes onto the next thing-"

Fleur let out a hysterical laugh which made her parents jump.

"What will it take for you two to open your eyes!?" Fleur laughed, looking at the ceiling. "Another murder? It is coming, and that blood will be on your hands when it does."

"Fleur, that is enough!" her father said sharply. "Do not speak of such horrible things."

"You are blinded by love, waiting for her to come back from the dark life she has made. She is too far gone! Do you really believe she has been protecting us? She brought three Death Eaters _into our house_. There will be some selfish reason as to why she has not passed on more information. How can you believe there is _any _room for her to reform?"

"She is our daughter, we will never give up on her," her father replied gruffly. Fleur shook her head. She was too sore to argue with the ignorant.

"I want to be alone, please just go."

Her mother quickly rose to her feet and tried to hide her tears as she strode from the room, her heels clicking loudly. Her father gazed at her for a moment, but Fleur averted his eye.

"We love you, Fleur," he said softly. "And I won't let her get away with what she did to you tonight. I will talk to the Ministry when they arrive."

"You'll tell them she's a Death Eater?" Fleur repeated.

Her father gazed at her face for a second, and he looked as though he may hug her. But the moment passed.

"No," he said flatly. "Because she is not. But she hurt you and I won't let her get away with that."

"She did the Cruciatus curse, Papa," Fleur replied, and suddenly her voice was wobbling. "My own sister did the Cruciatus curse on me. That is enough for her to go to Azkaban, and I hope she does. I hope she rots in there."

They fell into silence.

Fleur blinked back quick tears as her father rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. She had never seen his boyish face look so old.

The doorbell chimed loudly.

Coco's head darted toward the noise, but her father raised a weary hand to stop her.

"I will see to it, Fleur. There must be another way," he said as he slowly rose to his feet, his knees cracking loudly. "You do not understand, you are not a parent."

Fleur's expression darkened.

"Thank you, Coco," he said softly as the elf finished the last of the repairs, and she bowed deeply. He glanced once again at Fleur before sighing and walking down the hallway.

Fleur closed her eyes and let her head fall softly back against the wall. Tiny footsteps pattered toward her.

"May I, Mademoiselle?" Coco squeaked, lightly touching Fleur's ribs. She nodded, and Coco placed both of her tiny hands on Fleur's side. A soft glow shone through Fleur's eyelids, and the pain started to subside.

"I cannot understand it," Fleur whispered. "What more proof do they need?"

"Amandine is a danger," Coco replied, "but I understand your father's logic."

Fleur's eyes snapped open. How could everyone be so comfortable not reporting Amandine? Had they not seen what had just happened?!

"She's about to be inducted into the most dangerous group in modern history," Fleur argued, "and you think it's unreasonable to report it?"

"Pardon me, Mademoiselle, but that is not what I said," Coco squeaked. "I said I understood his logic."

"Then please explain it to me because I am at a loss."

The elf moved her small hands to Fleur's head, warm magic slowly threading the cut on her face back together.

"You have not seen what I've seen," Coco replied. "I've seen your parents weep when they found out they were pregnant with her and hold each other so tightly they left marks. I watched how they cradled her tiny form so delicately at birth and the love that poured from their eyes as they stared at her. I've seen them run to her when she cried as a toddler and bandage up her knees when she fell and tell her what an outstanding young girl she was going to be. I've watched them shine with pride when they let her hold you for the first time when you were born. I've seen them console her for hours as she wept in disappointment when she broke her arm and couldn't play in the finals of her Quidditch tournament."

"But-"

"And," Coco continued, raising her white eyebrow at the interruption, "I've witnessed them argue when your mother didn't want to send her to Durmstrang. I've heard conversations that lasted for hours to the teachers at the school as they lost sleep with worry over what she was doing. I've heard them call the Ministry to report their own daughter on the night she planned to break into Nurmengard. Yes, that's right, Mademoiselle" Coco said as Fleur's eyes opened in shock. "I must punish myself later for telling you this, but they reported Amandine and set the Ministry to stop her. A classmate had already told them though, so the Ministry was aware. The tip-off from your parents was what pushed them into action, though."

"I-I did not know that," Fleur stammered.

"Of course you didn't," Coco said, dropping her hands to her side as the cut finished healing. "They want your family to be whole and reunited once again. Remember when the two of you were children? You were thick as thieves. You adored your sister. It hurts them the way you and Amandine treat each other now."

"I am not a child anymore, that is why," Fleur argued. "I can see her for what she is, and I do not have an ounce of respect for her. She is selfish, she is a follower, she is a murderer. She is nothing that I want anything to do with."

Fleur lightly felt her face to have something to do with her hands.

"Mademoiselle," Coco continued. "Don't assume your parents take this lightly. They speak for long, arduous hours over how to manage Amandine. They thought that bringing her into the family business would set her back on track, give her a purpose, make her feel welcome again. They don't trust her the way you think they do."

"So why continue to make excuses for her!"

"They don't want her to regress. They want to support her, as they would for you and Gabrielle."

"Yeah right," Fleur scoffed. "We all know Amandines always been the favourite for Merlin knows what reason."

"Just because she gets this attention does not mean she is the favourite. You should be thankful they don't keep such a watchful eye on you, it is not the gift you seem to think it is."

Fleur fell silent. She was still furious with her parents, but a weary understanding was now nibbling at the edge of her brain.

"You should have seen your parents bursting with pride when you were named the champion of Beauxbatons," Coco continued softly. "Your father tells anyone who comes within five feet of him how spectacular you are. Do your ribs still hurt?"

Fleur shook her head, and Coco bowed. She felt completely better, fatigue and confusion the only thing now washing over her in waves.

"Any other injuries you can feel?" Coco asked.

"Just my pride."

"That will heal in good time."

Fleur's body felt like lead as her thoughts drifted to the soft bed upstairs awaiting her. She knew she looked terrible and was deliberately avoiding looking in the mirror across from her.

The swirling of her emotions had finally stopped to be replaced by a dull nothingness. She didn't want to feel anymore. She didn't want to think. She wanted to sleep and escape the mess that was her life.

Fleur's pocket warmed suddenly, and she reached into it. The enchanted Galleon Hermione had given her was shining with a new message.

_Fleur, we need to talk. Before we get back to Hogwarts. It's urgent._"

Her breath hitched in her throat. She yearned to speak to Hermione, to cry in her arms and have her hair stroked and pretend like everything wasn't a nightmare. But at the same time, she was terrified to talk to her.

She knew she had been distant over the break and had explaining to do. But how was she meant to explain that her sister was a murderous stalking psychopath about to become a Death Eater? What if she didn't take it seriously, just like the rest of her family? What if she _did _take it seriously and never spoke to Fleur again? She didn't know which option was worse.

Amandine's threat radiated through Fleur's brain as she re-read the message.

"I need to go, Coco," Fleur said and rose onto unsteady feet.

"You should rest, Mademoiselle."

"I know, there is just something I need to do. I cannot put anyone else in danger because of me."

Fleur tapped the coin and murmured her reply. She walked tiredly to where her cloak lay and flapped it a few times to remove the dust.

"I do not know why you stay with our family, Coco," Fleur said as she slid on some clean shoes. "We could get you a job at Beauxbatons. You would be amongst other house-elves, and you would not have to deal with our family's drama. It would be a quiet retirement."

Coco's eyes began to shine.

"It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve your family, and I wish to be with you all until my death."

Fleur shrugged and glanced in the mirror. She looked terrible.

_Hermione's going to take one look at me and realise how truely out of my league she is,_ Fleur thought.

She still smelt like wine, and her reddened eyes looked like she'd been doing drugs.

_Better she thinks that than know the truth._

"Thank you for healing me, Coco. And for listening," Fleur sighed.

"As ever, Mademoiselle."

"And I forbid you from hurting yourself for any of the information you told me tonight. I am sorry you had to be involved in all of this."

Fleur glanced at the coordinates Hermione just sent as it flashed onto the coin and, with a small smile to Coco, disapparated.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Fleur, Gabrielle and Hermione sat in silence as the memory faded. The black smoke backdrop drifted away with the wind.

Gabrielle's face was the colour of chalk and Hermione had a lone tear sliding down her cheek

"Oh," Gabrielle finally said. "I didn't realise… she used the Cruciatus… I would have never teased you..."

Fleur turned to Hermione.

"So do you see?" she said quietly. "Do you see what I have been afraid of this whole time?"

"Fleur," Hermione replied softly. "I-I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry."

"It is what it is," Fleur said. "But you see how deep my fear was and how I never felt right letting you in. You now see the real danger Amandine poses. But I have decided I am not going to let her dictate my life anymore. I would rather take a thousand more beatings from her than live in fear."

Hermione swallowed and stared off into the darkness. She was at a loss for words. Her mind was racing, and a thousand questions sat on the tip of her tongue. She opened her mouth to reply, but Fleur gently touched her hand to silence her.

"I told you I wanted to show you this and that you did not owe me anything," she said quietly. "We will not talk about this tonight because I want you to think about it. This is a difficult memory to show you, and I expect you want to say the right thing, but I want you to go and give it thought. Think about what being with me will involve. I have made my decision."

Gabrielle made a slight noise and stood up, wandering toward the castle slowly and pretending to be extremely interested in a firework spiralling overhead. Fleur smiled slightly.

"She is giving us privacy, but I should go," Fleur continued. "I promised I would take her to the party, and I can see how upset she is from that memory. I will need to look after her tonight."

"Of course," Hermione breathed.

Fleur interlinked their fingers, and for a brief moment, Hermione's thoughts came to a standstill. The warmth crawled up her arm, and she wanted to reach out and pull Fleur into a tight hug, to say everything her mouth couldn't.

"I want to be with you so badly, Hermione," Fleur said, and Hermione's stomach exploded with butterflies. "I know I do not deserve you. I have treated you horribly these past few months, and I have been a coward, and I have a fucked up family. But now atleast you can see why I was so scared. Everything is laid bare, I have no more secrets, and the choice is yours. I will understand whatever you choose."

"I don't want to be the reason you get hurt," Hermione pleaded. "Amandine said that if she saw you with me again, she would do much worse. I can't have that on my conscience."

Fleur's squeezed Hermione's hand.

"Whether we are together or not, Amandine and I are going to reach a breaking point. It is coming, I can feel it," she replied. "You saw what she did to me when she realised I had reported her. I will do everything in my power until she has been stopped, be that result whatever it is. That means I will be putting myself in danger regardless of my status with you. If I was a stronger person, I would have been able to stay away from you to keep you safe. But I cannot. _This _feeling-"?

She motioned toward their intertwined fingers.

"- this fills me with ecstasy, and it is only the slightest of touches. I have never had that in my life, and I do not want to fight it anymore. I want to face everything with you."

To Hermione's dismay, Fleur unlinked their hands, and the warmth vanished.

"If I do not leave now, I never will," Fleur said to Hermione's questioning look. "So I will take my little sister to this stupid party and try to keep her out of trouble. She is the one part of my family that is not yet broken. I will think about you every second until I hear your decision. And probably every second after that."

Hermione wanted to tell Fleur she had already made up her mind as her heart reached for the girl in front of her. She knew how to take care of herself, her antics with Harry had proved that. She wasn't scared of Amandine. She wanted to fight. She wanted to protect Fleur. She wanted to face any threat head-on, together.

But the small rational part of her brain was whispering in her ear too. A lot of water had passed under the bridge, and this was complicated. She was still hurt from the way Fleur had treated her the past few months, even though she now knew why. She would be putting herself and her friends into danger. She would be putting Fleur into danger.

"I'm worried," Hermione finally replied. "There's so much going on here. What about your family?"

"There comes a time when you have to make hard decisions," Fleur replied gently. "I cannot keep letting them get away with everything just because they are my family. There are too many secrets I have kept out of loyalty to blood. Gabrielle agrees. These secrets have put other people in danger for too long. I know the difference between what is right and what is easy, so I have made my choice."

Fleur's voice stayed strong as she spoke, and she drew herself up taller.

"How long can I take?" Hermione asked. "How long will you wait for my answer?"

A firework suddenly exploded overhead, painting the sky red and green in the shape of a dragon. A distant cheer echoed across the grounds.

The colours reflected off of Fleur's bright blue eyes and danced along her slim face. If Hermione could have frozen time at that moment, she would have.

"How long is a lifetime?" Fleur replied, and the fireworks behind her exploded into a brilliant gold.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione approached the Fat Lady, barely remembering how she got there.

Her mind raced the entire walk back to the common room as she replayed the memory over and over in her head.

Amandine was a danger, a real threat to wizardkind. Now she finally understood this wasn't a simple crush for Fleur. But Amandine had withheld information about Fleur from the Death Eater's, and had lied to Bellatrix's face about where she hit Fleur with the Cruciatus curse. What did that mean?

_It means she hit her own sister with a torture curse_, Hermione thought grimly.

Fleur was willing to risk her life to be with her. But what if she changed her mind again? What if she spooked?

_I can't go through that heartbreak again_, _it was excruciating the first time around._ _But what if she doesn't change her mind? What if we can really be together? _

The thought filled her with euphoria, and she pursed her lips to stop the smile creeping onto her face. It was all too much for tonight. Her body still ached from the second task, and her eyelids were heavy with sleep. She couldn't wait to lay down and-

"Heeeeeermiooooooooonnnneeeee!"

Hermione's eyes snapped up to see Ron stumbling down the corridor toward her, Harry scurrying along behind him.

"Where've ya been!?" Ron exclaimed. He fell onto her in a hug, putting his entire weight on her as she struggled to push him off. He stunk of Firewhisky.

"Oh my God," Hermione snapped as she tried to shove him away. Harry ran forward and grabbed him under the armpits, heaving him back to his feet. "Ronald Weasley you are so drunk."

"Yeaaaaaah," he giggled. Hermione looked in exasperation at Harry who gave her an apologetic smile.

"The party got a little out of hand," he muttered as Ron swayed on the spot.

"Where did ya go?" Ron asked as he swayed dangerously close to the edge of the stairs.

"Just for a walk."

"No!"

Hermione looked at Harry in exasperation. He was still desperately trying to keep Ron standing.

"What?"

"You went to see Fleur didn't you!? We all told you not to go!"

Hermione flushed. In the intensity of the past hour, she had forgotten how desperately her friends had said not to meet up with her ex. She had told them all she was going for a walk to clear her head.

"It's complicated, Ron," she replied and ducked around him to get to the Fat Lady.

"She was such a bad friend to you," he howled back at her as Harry tried to steady him again.

"We'll talk in the morning when you're sober," Hermione replied, her eyes so heavy she could barely keep them open.

"Y-You're wasting your time with her!" he hiccuped. "So many guys at the party asked where you were! Dyu realise how many people you could've snogged tonight!"

"Gross, no. I'm not interested."

"What about Cedric! He may be a bit dim but he's a decent looking bloke. Or… or Dean? Girls seem to like him lots."

"Mate, drop it," Harry said as Hermione threw a filthy look. Harry clasped his hands on Ron's shoulders and steered him toward the portrait.

"She's wasting her time with that stuck up bitch!" Ron wailed, and Hermione's tiredness evaporated as her temper flared.

"Don't call her that!" she snapped.

"She is! Typical stuck up, French, pretentious, old-money family who treat people like shit 'cos they get away with it!"

"She's not like that-"

"Forget about her! Come back to the party! Hook up with someone, it'll make you feel better! Let loose for once!"

Harry spoke the password to the Fat Lady, but Hermione barely noticed.

"You're being an ass, Ron!" she snarled back. "You need to go to bed."

"You need someone to take you to bed!" he countered. "Why won't you hook up with any of these guys? They're all drooling over them, and you barely look at them!

"I don't want-"

"You haven't even tried it"

"Because I don't want to!"

"Why!?"

Hermione didn't know why she said it. Maybe it was because she was exhausted from the second task, or maybe because of the revelations from the past hour, or maybe because her subconscious was bursting to finally let it out into the world.

As the portrait swung open, Hermione seized control of the words that had haunted her for years.

"BECAUSE I'M GAY!"

Her voice echoed down the empty corridor, and her heart was racing. Ron looked like he'd been slapped in the face as his mouth dropped open.

A small cough came from the portrait hole, and she whirled around.

Half of the Gryffindor common room were sitting inside, all in stunned silence as they stared at Hermione. She gaped at them as heat crawled up her neck.

"Dibs," a female voice called.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey folks, only 2 months since the last update! It's like no time has passed. Thank you to all of those messaging asking when the update would be. I've been in lockdown and recently moved countries, and honestly, COVID had me feeling a bit unmotivated. But having people ask where the story was at gave me that little push I needed. I'm happy with how this chapter turned out once I sat my ass down and wrote.**

**Every single chapter is set to ramp up from here. Like, big esculations in every area and I'm excited to write it all. **

**Also, send all your love in the direction of my friend Perpetual Nonsense. She's a tough cookie and her stories are bomb. We were in a bit of a competition about who could post faster but she's absolutely smoked me so I concede defeat. Go leave her a review about how much better she is than me.**

**Happy reading!**

Hermione stifled a yawn as Snape's voice droned through her brain like an angry hornet. He was drawing a complex diagram of a werewolf on the blackboard, the scratching of the chalk the only sound breaking through his monotonous voice. She felt her eyes begin to unfocus.

Hermione blinked rapidly and glanced at Krum's watch for the umpteenth time as he scribbled notes next to her. She could swear it hadn't moved in ten minutes. This was the last class before the weekend and she could hardly wait. The past week had been chaotic.

The classroom was stuffy and a small trail of dull sunshine was the only thing that could peek through the closed curtains. Hermione saw Ron's head droop from his desk at the front of the class and quickly snap up again.

True to his word, Snape had kept her, Harry and Ron separated in Defence Against the Dark Arts all year, and the boys had suffered for it. Ron had achieved a "D" in his last exam without her help in class, and had all but given up since.

Krum had been a useful partner, though. He took good notes, though his handwriting was messy, and had helped Hermione quickly understand some trickier concepts since he was repeating his sixth year.

But he wasn't the person she wanted to talk to right now. She was itching to speak with Harry.

She glanced at his watch again as it struck 5pm, and Hermione was on her feet as soon as the bell rang.

She shoved her books into her bag, said a quick goodbye to an exasperated Krum, and walked quickly to the back where Harry sat with Ernie.

She opened her mouth but Ernie got in first.

"Hermione!" he said in his ever pompous manner. The rest of the class were noisily packing up, no one listening to Snape as he raised his voice to tell them how many feet their research papers on werewolves should be.

"Hello, Ernie," she replied smiling weakly. "Have a great weekend!"

She turned to Harry, but her obvious dismissal had sailed over Ernie's head.

"Of course, are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" he chirped as he carefully placed his quills back into their leather pouches.

"Yes, I am."

"Who with?"

"Um, Harry and Ron, I guess-"

"Oh, fantastic! Would you all like to join Hannah and I? We were thinking of walking to the Shrieking Shac-"

"Actually Ernie, I really need to speak to Harry," Hermione interrupted. "Alone," she added as Ernie made no attempt to move. His round cheeks reddened slightly as he muttered a quick goodbye and sped toward the door.

"That was a bit harsh," Harry quipped as he pulled his bag over his shoulders. They made their way toward the door where a grumpy Ron was glaring at Snape's back.

"Whatever," Hermione replied. "Come on, you have to tell me now!"

She was walking behind Harry, but could sense the mischievous grin on his face.

"What are you talking about?" he called over his shoulder as they reached Ron.

"You know perfectly well-"

"God, Snape's a prick," Ron interrupted as they exited the room together. The corridor was teeming with the happy chatter of students as everyone celebrated the start of the weekend. Many had already undone their ties and were running to the Entrance Hall, hoping to catch the last rays of the March sun as it slid over the grounds.

Hermione got caught behind some babbling third years that ducked in behind Harry and Ron. She felt like clipping them on the ears, but the dull remembrance that she was a Prefect kept her hands deep in her pockets instead.

"He told me I had to write a 7-foot essay on werewolves rather than a 5-foot one!" she heard Ron continue to whinge. "There goes my weekend in Hogsmeade! Said it was because I'm doing so badly, but I reckon it's because he thinks it was me who hit him with that spitball last class. Like yeah, I laughed when it happened, but it was those Durmstrang guys, not me! "

Harry and Ron continue to discuss their hatred of Snape, and Hermione lost her patience. There were more important topics they could be addressing.

She sidestepped the girls in front of her, squeezing into a gap that suddenly appeared, and accidentally trod on the foot of someone behind her trying to do the same thing.

"Ouch!" the girl exclaimed, and Hermione looked behind her to make eye contact with a rather pretty Ravenclaw girl she had never seen before.

"Sorry!" Hermione exclaimed over the clamour of voices. "There's no room in here!"

The girl's frown instantly disappeared once she realised who had trod on her foot.

"Oh, it's no problem," the girl breathed and, to Hermione's surprise, blushed slightly. "I shouldn't have tried to cut in front."

The crowd came to a standstill as students tried to squeeze through the small archway that led into the Entrance Hall.

The Ravenclaw girl was suddenly very close to Hermione, and she could feel her chest brushing slightly against her back. She forced her thoughts not to wander.

"You were really great in the second task, by the way," the girl continued, and Hermione felt a stupid smile grow on her face.

"Oh, you know, a lot of it was luck," she replied sheepishly. The girl was jostled by the crowd, and took a step closer, her chest now firmly pressed against Hermione's back.

"I know that's not true, I heard what you did down there, how you saved the Delacour's. Just thought you should know you have an admirer," the girl replied, licking her lips slightly.

Oh, ha ha, um, cool," Hermione babbled.

Blush inched up Hermione's neck as she realised how lame she sounded. Their faces were very close, and her brain had taken this moment to decide to stop working. She wasn't used to girls openly flirting with her like this, but it had been a trend in the past week.

Hermione quickly tried to make her smile seem less goofy and more cool, with the result being a kind of grimace.

A Slytherin girl suddenly appeared at the elbow of the Ravenclaw, her eyes glaring daggers as she forcefully threaded her fingers through the girls hand.

"Oh my God, are you serious, Steph?" the Slytherin hissed.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Steph replied defensively

"I knew the _second _you could speak to her you would-"

And they began to openly bicker.

Hermione was grateful that the crowd heaved forward and she was suddenly in the clear of the Entrance Hall. She quickly spotted Ron's red hair and darted toward the boys, glad to leave the arguing girls behind.

"-they're going to win the league this year mate," Harry was saying as she caught up. "I can feel it in my bones. The Harpie's have got it sealed."

"You're dreaming," Ron replied with a yawn as they entered the Great Hall for dinner. "Oh, hey Hermione. What's got you grinning like an idiot?"

"Oh nothing, just glad it's the weekend, you know?" she said a little too quickly.

They waved to Ginny as they took their usual seats at Gryffindor table. It was already loaded up with all kinds of food, and Hermione suddenly felt ravenous. Ginny was already wolfing into some roast potatoes and grinned at them through food in her teeth.

"So!?" Hermione asked Harry sharply, staring intently at him as he lazily scooped some lasagne onto his plate.

"So what?" Harry asked loftily, failing to hide the smirk on his face.

"Who were the flowers from!" Hermione replied a little too loudly. She saw Gryffindors glance at her out of the corner of her eye but ignored them. "What did the note say?"

"Why is Harry now the one receiving gifts from your many admirers?" Ginny asked. Harry took a slow mouthful of food to delay his reply, relishing the moment a little too much.

"He's not," Hermione huffed. "And I haven't been sent _that _many gifts. I'd already left for Potions and Dobby came into the common room to drop off a bouquet of lilies for me. He gave them to Harry to deliver, which he then forgot to do, and he _still _hasn't told me what the note that came with them said. Oh come on, it doesn't take that long to chew!"

Harry swallowed his mouthful and pressed his napkin to his lips. He closed his eyes and raised his chin toward the ceiling.  
"'_Ermione_," he suddenly said very throatilly, causing Ron and Ginny to howl with laughter. "_I saw zees flowerz and zought zey were nearly az beautiful as you. I zink about you all ze time. I crave your soft lips like ze owl craves ze night, like ze hummingbird craves ze sweet nectar of ze flower, like ze worm craves ze dampness of a dirty hole…"_

"Oh shut up," Hermione replied, forcing the smile to stay off of her face as Ginny and Ron doubled over in laughter. "It did not say that."

Harry opened his eyes and returned to his lasagne.

"It was something to that degree," he shrugged. "A love note from the one and only Fleur Delacour."

Hermione felt her heart skip a beat as she glanced to the Ravenclaw table where Fleur was seated. The setting sun was glowing down from the enchanted ceiling and glancing across her face as she spoke with another Beauxbatons student.

Hermione's body filled with warmth as she watched them. The bags under Fleur's eyes had disappeared, the gauntness on her face had filled in, and her eyes had regained their usual sparkle. The Fleur that had so confidently walked around the castle the first few weeks Hermione had met her was back, and Hermione's attraction to her had doubled down.

She had taken on Fleur's advice and tried to give herself space to clear her head and think about their relationship properly. It didn't help that whenever she spent time thinking about it, her mind tended to wander to the memory of them making out in Ron's shed. On top of that, she had been swamped with schoolwork, prefect duties, and, above all, girls. So many girls.

"Well, that was nice of her wasn't it?" Hermione finally replied, trying to remain cool. Harry snorted and scoped some more food into his mouth.

Hermione reached for the shepherd's pie and made eye contact with an Ilvermony girl walking past the table. The girl looked her up and down and smirked slightly, and Hermione quickly looked back at her plate.

"Why does her face look like that?" Ginny asked with her mouth full, nodding her head at what Hermione knew was another stupid smile that had stretched across her face. Ginny glanced toward the Ilvermorny girl who was still staring at Hermione as she sat at the Hufflepuff table.

"Excited for the weekend apparently," Harry replied. Ginny snorted.

"Yeah right, people only smile like that if they're getting laid, or they think they have the potential to get laid."

"You guys are ridiculous," Hermione replied lightly as she added some salad to her plate.

"You're like a kid in Honeydukes with a pocket full of galleons," Harry added, his eyes flicking to a passing Durmstrang girl who was unabashedly staring at Hermione as she ate. "Suddenly there's all this selection to choose from and you don't know where to start."

"More like Hermione is the sweets and every girl in this vicinity has diabetes," Ginny chimed in. "They're craving something that will ruin their life."

"You are both objectifying not only me, but all women with your stupid metaphors," Hermione replied as she passed the salad to Harry.

"You're in hoe season," Ginny countered with an evil grin, and Hermione smacked her on the shoulder.

"I swear if one more girl comes up to me to ask if you're single, I'm gonna lose my mind," Ron grunted as he stabbed his steak. "I can't believe I missed that you're gay."

"That," Ginny replied pompously, "is because you are an idiot."

Hermione had sat down with Ron and filled him in on everything the morning after her outburst. He was nursing a cruel hangover, and the information only added to his headache. When she told him the real history with her and Fleur, his mouth had dropped so far open that she thought his jaw may dislocate.

She still hadn't got used to the attention that her sudden announcement had brought.

Fleur had mentioned to her long ago that being gay wasn't something people cared about in the wizarding world. And she had been right, they didn't. But people knowing she was suddenly available to hit on? That was something _many _people had cared about.

The past week had been more chaotic than all of her past weeks at Hogwarts combined.

She had walked to breakfast with Harry and Ron, and Hermione couldn't help but notice the stares she was receiving from all directions. The girls looked at her curiously, the boys sadly, and when she entered the Great Hall it fell completely silent. That all but confirmed her secret was out.

A Durmstrang girl with a square jaw had immediately risen from her seat and walked toward the group. Hermione had shrunk toward Harry, hoping he would act as a shield between her and any venomous comments that were about to be spat toward her. Instead, the girl asked her out.

Before she had a chance to answer, the Great Hall had filled with buzzing. Girls all around her were laughing, some were gesturing angrily, some looked devastated. The boys looked bemused. It was like a group of vultures had suddenly had their prey snatched away.

Harry and Ron had quickly ushered her back out of the Great Hall, and Hermione caught a glimpse of Fleur on her way out. Her stare was fixed on the Durmstrang girl, her usually deep blue eyes looking like icicles. Hermione hoped she would never have that stare directed at her.

The rest of the week had followed a similar suit. The attention had been flattering at first, but now she had an idea that it had grown into a competition of who could score a date with Hermione Granger.

"I can't understand why you aren't making the most of it," Harry said, bringing Hermione back to reality. "I get it, the Fleur stuff is complicated, but you really rejected _Susan Bones_!?"

"She's not my type," she replied matter-of-factly, and the boys shook their heads in disgust.

"Hey look," Ginny said, nudging Hermione with her elbow, "Dumbeldore's up."

Hermione leant backwards to see Dumbledore standing, a gentle smile on his face, one hand raised. The usual chatter around the Great Hall died down as students looked at him, confused.

"Attention," his voice called. "I am terribly sorry to disrupt your feast on this fine Friday. A small announcement is needed."

Hermione glanced at Harry to see if he had noticed what she had. He wiggled his fingers, and she nodded.

The hand Dumbledore had by his side was blackened and dead looking, his attempt at covering it with the sleeve of his robe proving futile. Muttering swept through the students again as more and more noticed; many subconsciously touching their own hands as they stared.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, smiled more widely, and moved his blackened hand behind his back.

"A nasty burn from a particularly hostile Blast-Ended Skrewt," he said to the questioning eyes. "No need to worry. Back to the announcement. If any student is to see the Speropax on the Hogwarts grounds, I ask that you report it immediately to the closest teacher. This is of utmost importance. Now, onto dessert."

And with that, Dumbledore sat down and was immediately pulled into a conversation with Professor Fontaine.

Hermione's eyes, along with half of the students in the Hall, darted to where Fleur sat at the Ravenclaw table. She was staring intently at her bowl of soup. Her eyes flickered up to meet Hermione's, and a shadow of a smile crossed her lips.

"Well that was bizarre," Ron said as he gnawed on the bone of his steak, snapping Hermione's attention back to him. "Doesn't usually do announcements on regular days, does he? What do you reckon happened? The dog probably bit a student or something. It's Fleur's dog, right? She'll know."

Hermione shrugged and returned to her food, but her mind was racing.

She had purposefully not told her friends that Fleur was an animagus. Fleur had mentioned it was a family secret, and Hermione didn't think it was her place to divulge it. But she also didn't expect Fleur to report such a closely held family secret to Dumbledore, even though it was obviously done to watch out for Amandine.

_She's really serious about stopping her sister,_ Hermione thought as she helped herself to a chocolate eclair.

They spent the next fifteen minutes discussing what the Speropax could have possibly done, with Hermione only joining in half-heartedly. She continued to glance at Fleur, who was being hounded by the Beauxbatons students talking at her. She was wearily shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. Hermione wanted to give her a hug.

Dumbledore left the teachers table at that moment, his long purple robes sweeping behind him as he walked. Hermione tried to glimpse at his hand again, but it was buried deep in his pocket.

To her surprise, he stopped behind Harry.

"Harry," he said quietly as students around them peered curiously. "I apologise for asking for your time on a Saturday, but would you be so kind as to be in my office at 9am tomorrow?"

"O-of course," Harry stammered.

"It is humbly appreciated," Dumbledore replied with a small bow, and he exited the Great Hall.

"I wonder what's up?" Ron asked as he, Harry, Ginny and Hermione all stood. Hermione glanced to where Fleur was sitting, but she was locked into a conversation with another Beauxbatons girl.

"No idea," Harry replied, "but there goes my weekend in Hogsmeade."

"Looks like you'll be on your own then, Hermione," Ron said as they left the Great Hall and joined the crowd of students heading to the seventh floor.

An excited group was gathered around a notice board on the far side of the Entrance Hall. A large scroll of parchment was crammed with names, and many students were trying to squeeze there's into any remaining space.

"Glad we signed up for the duelling tournament early," Ron said, nodding toward the parchment. "Entries close tonight. Looks like half of Hogwarts has entered."

"I for one can't wait to hex Millicant Bullstrode in her big stupid face," Ginny replied, rubbing her hands together. "I hope we get matched up in the first round."

"I forgot it was even happening," Hermione added. "Dumbledore mentioned it when I was made a champion and I haven't heard about it since."

"That's 'cos you've had the tournament to focus on," Harry said as he stepped quickly to the side to avoid walking through the Bloody Baron. "Everyone else has been talking about it for months. I dunno how they're going to fit everyone in next weekend though. There must be hundreds of duals to get through."

"Seamus is running the betting," Ginny said, dropping her voice as they walked past Professor Flitwick. "All the champions are hot favourites to win. That Ilvermorny girl Tess has good odds, as does Harry, of course. I'm gonna put my money on Alicia Spinnett, though. She's been in the duelling club for years."

"I'm putting mine on Fleur," Neville piped up from behind them, causing the four of them to turn around. "After seeing the way she's performed in the tasks, she'll be a beast at duelling."

Hermione looked down to hide the smile on her face.

"Well, I don't care who wins," Ron said darkly. "As long as I get a chance to duel Justin Finch-Fletchley. That git dropping out of Potions meant I have no one to cheat off of now."

"How very sympathetic of you," Ginny replied.

The crowd thinned out as they reached the fourth floor and the group could now walk side-by-side. Harry turned to Hermione.

"I can ask around the Gryffindor's tonight," he said. "See if you can tag along with Dean or someone to help protect you from your ever-growing fanbase while you're in Hogsmeade?"

Hermione shrugged. She was looking forward to the time alone after the week she'd had.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione woke early the next morning, dressed quickly, and headed down to the Entrance Hall. She wanted to miss the crowd heading into Hogsmeade, not fancying the idea of more people gawking at her.

She didn't pass many students on her way downstairs, and was soon walking across the cool grounds.

The first hints of Spring were starting to show. The sunshine was slightly warmer, the usual winter bite was out of the air, and small flower bulbs had started to sprout on the trees. Hermione waved at Hagrid as he raked his cabbage patch.

She took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air flow through her and fill her lungs. She was looking forward to spending some time by herself today. She had seen a beautiful peacock feathered quill last time she'd been in Hogsmeade that she wanted to buy, and there was word that Madame Rosemerta had recently imported a new kind of mead from Norway that she could try.

Some time for herself was overdue, and it gave her the time to think about the situation with Fleur more clearly. Her heart was craving the touch of the French girl, and she was having a hard time separating logic from feeling.

Hermione glanced toward the Beauxbaton carriage as she crossed the grounds. It sat still, with the only movement coming from the horses snorting as they ate from a bucket filled with a golden liquid.

Hermione had been tempted to ask Fleur if she was going to Hogsmeade but ultimately decided against it. She needed more time to think about her decision first. She couldn't wait to-

"Hey, Hermione!"

Hermione felt like crying as she slowly turned around to see Katie Bell running toward her. Her Gryffindor scarf was flapping as she ran, a large grin plastered across her tan face.

"Want some company?" Katie asked as she fell into step next to Hermione. "You're all on your lonesome."

"Oh, it's okay, really," Hermione said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "I was just going to wander around. I don't want to intrude on any plans you made-"

"I have no plans," Katie replied quickly. "Alicia got detention with McGonagall, so I don't have anyone to go with either. But now it's all worked out!"

"Yeah," Hermione replied half-heartedly as they stepped onto the path that led to Hogsmeade.

Katie continued to chatter away as they walked down the cobbled path together, the slanted roofs of the village soon coming into view. She asked numerous questions about the tournament, reacting in awe whenever Hermione answered in any kind of detail.

"Have you been watching the League?" Katie asked.

"What's the League?" Hermione replied, peering into the shop's windows as they passed. It was becoming painfully obvious that they didn't have much in common outside of being Gryffindors.

"You know, the European Quidditch League?"

"Oh, no. I don't watch it."

Hermione stopped to look at a display of wand handles. A fine looking Mahogany handle glinted at her through the window.

"I'm going to go in here," Hermione interrupted as Katie opened her mouth. "Might be awhile, I've been looking for a new wand handle for ages. It'll be really boring, feel free to keep shopping if you want."

"That's okay," Katie chirped. "I could use a new one too."

They entered the shop, and a weedy shop assistant immediately swooped over to engage them. Hermione spent a solid twenty minutes trying out different fittings on her wand in the hope that Katie would lose interest. But the older girl continued to happily chatter away, giving her opinion on each handle and offering alternative suggestions.

Hermione began to grow slightly agitated. She really did want to be alone, and the constant chatter was giving her a headache. None of the wand handles suited her taste, and she was about to leave when the shop assistant piped up.

"I think I've got just the thing to satisfy your quirky taste," he said in a high pitched voice, before disappearing down a hallway out the back.

Katie wandered slowly around the shop, her hands behind her back, as she looked at a handle that was carved out of bone.

_I'll just tell her I want to be alone, _Hermione thought, as Katie glanced toward her and pointed with her nose scrunched at a handle that looked like it was covered in moss. _She's just doing this to get into my pants anyway._

She opened her mouth as the shop assistant reappeared holding a glossy black case.

"I've got a winner for you!" he exclaimed, placing the case gently on the counter and beckoning the girls over. "Now, this one will cost you, but it's worth every Galleon. I sourced the material myself, and let me tell you, it was an absolute nightmare trying to get this skin."

Hermione's stomach dropped as he carefully removed the lid from the case.

Cushioned in purple velvet was a sleek handle that glinted with all the colours of the rainbow. Tiny scales interconnected to create a rough surface, with the skin wrapped tightly around the solid handle.

"The handle is made from the jaw of a Merperson," the man gloated. "And the skin is stripped from one of their tails and bound with unicorn hair. It'll last you a lifetime, and you'll be the envy of your friends! Look at the colour, have you ever seen anything so magnificent?"

Hermione's blood began to boil as he held it out his hand for her wand. Before she could speak, a menacing voice spoke from next to her.

"That's disgusting," Katie spat, and the man's small eyes darted toward her. "You sourced it yourself? What, you killed a Merperson?"

"No, no," he replied quickly, sensing the hostility of his audience. "I brought it from a chap who found a dead one washed up on the shore. Perfectly reasonable."

"No," Katie seethed. "It's not. Merpeople hold week long ceremonies when one of them dies. They give the body back to the water. You have no right to interfere in something like that."

"It's a dead fish," the man replied bluntly as he snapped the lid of the case shut. "If they wanted it so badly, why let it wash up on shore?"

"Because it was probably killed by someone like you! Or a boat, or a fishing net, or something else that shouldn't be in their territory. How can you think it's okay to sell something as precious as this?"

"Galleons," the man snapped.

Hermione watched the exchange as the two glared daggers at each other. She had been waiting to jump in and tear the man to shreds, but Katie had said all her arguments for her. The man turned to her.

"Well, are you interested or not?" he snapped.

"My friend here has echoed my thoughts," Hermione replied coolly. She thought he may try to argue with her, but his eyes glanced to the jewelry on her wrist, and he plastered a fake grin back on his face.

"Well," he said slowly. "Maybe we can take another look at the Yew handle? It fit in your hand beautifully, and at only seven Galleons it really is a bargain-"

"No, I think we'll be going," Katie interrupted. She grabbed Hermione's hand and led her out of the shop, the door banging loudly behind them.

The main street was now teeming with students from all four schools, and the sun shone bright overhead. Hermione saw a few curious glances directed at her and Katie, and she quickly let go of Katie's hand.

"The audacity of that guy!" Katie exclaimed as they joined in with the crowd. "Imagine thinking it's okay to sell Merpeople skin!? I have half a mind to report him to the Ministry."

"They wouldn't do anything," Hermione replied glumly. "Trust me, when it comes to magical creatures, they couldn't care less. I've been trying to get them to look at Elfish Welfare for two years now, and have never got an owl back."

"Oh yeah, I remember when you asked us all to write to the Ministry back in your fourth year."

"I'm not a saleswoman," Hermione said, and blushed slightly. "I don't think anyone did it."

"I did," Katie said simply, and Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "They never replied to me either."

"I didn't know that…"

"Well, I did it because I agreed with you, not because I was trying to impress you. I should have taken action on it sooner to be honest. Owning a house elf should be illegal."

"Yeah," Hermione said, slightly taken aback.

They continued to weave through the crowd as it swelled even bigger. It looked like every student in the school was out enjoying the last scheduled trip to Hogsmeade of the year.

Hermione's agitation had decreased, and she snuck a side glance at Katie.

She walked with her shoulders back and used every inch of her height to walk tall among the crowd. Her light brown hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, and her tanned skin gleamed like bronze in the sunlight. Her narrow jaw accentuated her high cheekbones, and her full lips were the envy of every girl at Hogwarts.

Hermione had heard the stories about the Gryffindor captain, of course. There was a new girl every week weeping over being dumped by Katie Bell, and her reputation as a player preceded her. Whenever anyone approached her about it in the common room, Katie would playfully shrug it off, her ever present group of friends chuckling as they continued their game of Gobstones like nobody had spoken.

Hermione didn't respect the behaviour, and hadn't had much to do with Katie for those reasons. The only time they had hung out before now was after Quidditch matches, when Harry would invite her and Ron to the post-match celebrations. Though now she felt slightly ashamed for judging Katie as a dumb jock, the player tag was well-earnt.

She knew the reason why Katie was really hanging out with her. She wasn't about to become another notch on her bedpost.

"Where did you want to go next?" Katie asked. "Alicia told me that Honeydukes just got another shipment of Sherbet Lemons in, they've been sold out for months. Or we could check out Zonko's, I'm running a bit low on Caterwauling Cartwheels-"

"Katie," Hermione interrupted, and they stopped in the middle of the road. "I appreciate you offering to keep me company, but it's just not going to happen."  
Katie tilted her head slightly.

"Like, you don't want to go to those shops?" she replied, confused.

"No, as in this."

Hermione pointed between the two of them.

"Ever since everyone found out I'm gay, everyones tried what you're trying," she continued, interrupting Katie before she could reply. "I don't know whether it's a game or it's genuine, but it's exhausting."

"Hermione, I-"

"Look, it's flattering, but I'm just not interested in dating around at the moment. So, I don't want to waste your time."

"That's not-"

"No, really. You're not going to get anything from me, so you might as well find your other friends-"

"Hermione!" Katie said louder, failing to suppress a grin. "I didn't ask to hang out with you because I'm trying to sleep with you."

"Yeah, okay-"

"Harry asked me to keep you company. He said you'd been getting hassled all week, and that you wanted a relaxing time in Hogsmeade. He said if I went with you then people would be more likely to leave you alone."

'Oh…"

Hermione felt her face grow extremely hot as Katie's grin grew wider.

"Well, yes, that's very um…" Hermione trailed off. She felt her ego deflate as quickly as air out of a balloon.

"Come on," Katie replied, and nodded her head toward The Three Broomsticks. "Let's go get a drink." She flashed a smile as she began to walk toward the bar. "You arrogant ass."

Hermione laughed meekly and followed.

A line snaked from the entrance of the bar and down the busy street. Katie walked straight up to the bouncer and raised two fingers. He jerked his head toward the door.

"Come on," Katie said, and grabbed Hermione's hand again. The waiting crowd exclaimed loudly as the girls cut the line and walked in. A Durmstrang boy began to walk toward the bouncer with a frown on his face, but shrunk back quickly at the scowl he received in return.

The Three Broomsticks was so full that the girls had to shuffle awkwardly to maneuver around everyone. Hermione accidentally elbowed a wizard holding a jug of Butterbeer and it slopped down the front of his robes. She said a hasty apology as Katie pulled her toward a room in the back.

Tables were crammed together in here and it was slightly less busy, though just as loud. Two Beauxbatons boys vacated a booth in the corner as they walked in, and they quickly took the free seats.

"It's madness in here!' Hermione exclaimed, raising her voice to be heard over the noise.

"Last Hogsmeade trip of the term, so it makes sense," Katie replied. A waiter took their order and returned with two foaming Butterbeers.

"Cheers to you coming out," Katie smirked and they clinked their glasses. It still felt slightly surreal to Hermione that this was now a subject she could talk about so openly. She was so used to guarding this secret that she felt slightly exposed.

"Why did you think I was purely hanging out with you today to try and get with you?" Katie asked, wiping her mouth as she set the glass back down.

"Well, you have a bit of a reputation," Hermione replied sheepishly. "I've seen the amount of girls who leave in tears after interacting with you."

"I told them what we were doing was casual, and then when they caught feelings I ended it. How am I in the wrong there?"

"Mhmmm"

"You're Harry's best friend, I wouldn't do that to you. I'd be an idiot to do that to someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Hermione asked. She took another sip of Butterbeer and she felt herself become slightly warmer after each swallow.

"I mean, yeah. You're pretty good real estate," Katie quipped back, and Hermione scrunched up her face.

"What happened to not taking me out because you're trying to sleep with me?"

"That's still true. I'm just saying if I had a chance with someone like you, I wouldn't keep it casual."

Hermione avoided Katie's eye as she chose to look around the room instead. It was filled with students from all four schools and, by the looks of it, many had been in the pub since early morning. She noticed Lavender and Parvarti watching her and Katie with interest and quickly looked away.

"Sorry, was that too far?" Katie asked, drawing Hermione's attention back.

"No, it's fine. It's just… I honestly don't understand why so many people are suddenly interested in me," she sighed, drawing patterns on the table with the condensation that had dripped down her glass.

"Are you trying to fish for compliments from me now?" Katie replied, taking a sip of her drink. "Because I find it hard to believe that you don't understand why people are so interested in you."

"No," Hermione replied quickly."It's just… they probably have this vision of what I would be like when in reality I don't have any… experience."

Hermione flushed and took a large gulp of her drink, thankful that Katie didn't crack a smile.

"That's the kind of thing that you learn with someone," she replied gently.

"Yeah, but what girl wants to sleep with someone with no experience," Hermione muttered. She was glad the pub was so loud that they couldn't be overheard.

"Hermione, people aren't interested in you because they think you're some kind of sex God," Katie said bluntly. "I mean, come on. You were a legend before you became Triwizard Champion. Most people don't do what you've done in their lifetime, let alone before they're 17."

Hermione didn't reply as she wiped her hand on her jeans.

"Whatever girl is lucky enough to get you would take her time with that stuff," Katie continued. "If it was me, that's what I'd do."

"I guess so," Hermione said, deliberately avoiding acknowledging the last sentence.

The girls sat in silence. The room was now full to bursting and several people bumped Hermione's shoulder as they tried to squeeze through gaps. A group of Ilvermorny students burst into song in the far corner, the patrons around them jamming their fingers into their ears and glaring at the drunk students.

"That statement surprised me," Katie said, breaking the lapse in conversation.

"What statement?" Hermione replied, distracted by the sight of Cedric standing on a table with his tie knotted like a headband, howling the chorus of "The Banshee who Broke my Heart".

Both girls leant forward so they could hear each other more clearly.

"I always thought you and Fleur…"

Katie trailed off. Hermione knew she was fishing for information.

"And why would you think that?"

"Come on, I have eyes. A few months ago, any time you two were in the room together your energy was impossible to miss. It made me feel like I was intruding on something."

"Yeah well, it was complicated."

"Why should it be?"

Hermione frowned.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Why should loving someone ever be complicated?" Katie answered. "If you're constantly fighting and getting back together, isn't that a sign that it doesn't work? The early stages of a relationship should be as easy as breathing."

"There's more to it than that," Hermione replied defensively. "It was never a case of whether we liked each other or not. I was dealing with my coming out and she didn't want to have a secret relationship."

"She couldn't even try?" Kate countered. "She couldn't do it for a few months while you slowly came to terms with things?"

"I told her not to wait," Hermione bristled. "And then she told me that she wanted to wait but, well…"

"What?"

"I accused her of stealing my spells and manipulating me into helping her with the first task."

Hermione knew how bad that sounded as soon as she said it. Katie raised an eyebrow.

"But it turns out I was wrong!" she added quickly.

"So then you kissed and made up?"

"Well, no. Then I saw her kissing someone else at the after party so we had another fight…"

Hermione trailed off as Katie took a thoughtful swig of her drink.

"So what I'm hearing, and correct me if I'm wrong," Katie said slowly. "Is that you thought she was capable of manipulating you to a point where you accused her of using you to make her way through the tournament. Then when you got mad about it and you had an argument, her first reaction was to go and hook up with someone else?

"It's- you don't get the context," Hermione stammered, knowing how lame her reply sounded. "All that stuff was before either of us had really admitted how we felt and it was all just a mess."

"The first task was months ago," Katie replied. "You two have been cosy again since then."

"Well, yeah. But then her sister came back into the picture and-"

Hermione stopped her sentence abruptly at the look at Katie's face.

"There seems to be a lot of obstacles doesn't there?" Katie said as she signalled the waiter to bring them more drinks.

"Look, I'm making it sound bad, okay?" Hermione sighed as she withdrew some coins from her bag. "It hasn't been the easiest road, and we've had big obstacles to fight."

"If that's what the start of your relationship looked like, can you imagine what it would be like after a few years?"

"How can I even start to imagine what the future looks like?" Hermione replied as she handed the waitress a couple of Sickles. "I have the duelling competition _and_ the third task to get through, I need to come out to my parents at some point and have no idea if they're going to kick me out onto the street, I have to figure out who I am as a gay woman, Voldemorts back and killing people at the drop of a hat, Harry will no doubt be set on a mission to find him and I'm sure as hell not leaving him alone to do that. I can't think about tomorrow let alone the future."

Katie looked like she was about to argue back for a moment, but instead opted to place a sympathetic hand on Hermione's arm.

"Maybe it's time you consulted Professor Trelawney," she said softly and Hemrione snorted into her drink, glad that the tone had lightened again.

The girls continued to talk and drink as the bar impossibly stretched to fit even more people in it. Cedric had the attention of most of the room, now re-enacting his face being set on fire by the dragon in the first task. The patrons around him howled and banged their glasses against the tables at the display, and Cedric did a sweeping bow. After his recent success in the second task, he was now the first one to poke fun at himself about the first.

Hermione and Katie had started on their fifth drink and were leaning so close that their faces were only inches apart in order to hear each other. Hermione made sure to keep her eyes down whenever Katie spoke, not wanting the drunken fog of her brain to tempt her into something stupid. She was feeling rather light headed and knew she'd pay for this tomorrow, but her muddled brain was a welcome relief from it's usual chaos.

Conversation with Katie had moved to discussing the recent romance between Seamus and Hannah Abott, when Hermione felt someone squeeze into the booth next to her.

She turned slowly to tell the person the seat was taken, when her eyes locked with a familiar blue. Her stomach did multiple flips as Fleur scooted close to her, their faces now incredibly close as their outer legs pressed against each other. The expression on Fleur's face was unreadable, though her eyes burned with a blue fire.

"It's quite crowded in here," Fleur said loudly enough for Katie to hear, while never breaking eye contact with Hermione. "Do you mind if I take this seat?"

"Not at all," Hermione breathed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Katie shuffle slightly.

Hermione didn't know whether it was the influence of alcohol or the absence of seeing Fleur for the past week, but she realised that she been staring at her without blinking since she sat down.

Fleur's hair was straightened and the soft candlelight made the silvery strands throw colour around the room. She had put on some light makeup that accentuated her sharp cheekbones, and the familiar perfume of jasmine and vanilla washed over Hermione in waves. Her heart began to ache as she subconsciously bit her lower lip slightly. She all but forgot that Katie was sitting with them.

A distressed looking waitress bought Fleur a glass of red wine before disappearing into the playful crowd. Fleur raised the glass toward the both of them and Hermione fumbled for her own glass, raising it to her lips, watching Fleur's hair fall away from her neck as she drank, feeling a desperate need to pull Fleur in close and bite down on the soft, pale flesh.

_Merlin, pull it together_, Hermione thought as she shook her head slightly and took a large pull of her drink. _We're in the middle of a bar._

"Did I interrupt something?" Fleur asked as she placed her drink back down, slowly tracing the rim of the glass with her finger. Hermione forced herself not to watch.

"No, we've just been here for the past few hours," Katie replied once she realised Hermione wasn't about to turn the new arrival away.

"So I have seen," Fleur said.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I came to Hogsmeade with Cedric a few hours ago, and we joined in with that group." She indicated the group of students who were halfway through a sculling contest. "They became a little to, uh, _rambunctious _for me, so I thought I would have a change of scenery."

"And there was no one else in the bar to do that with?"

Both girls were using polite tones of voices, but the air between them couldn't have been frostier.

"Sure," Fleur replied. "But I wanted to speak to Hermione, so you know, it just made sense."

"Of course it did," Katie countered. "We'll, I'm having quite a good time speaking to her too."

"Lots to talk about?"

"Heaps actually," Katie said, plastering a fake smile onto her face. "Haven't we, Hermione?"

Hermione was snapped out of her trance.

"I mean, sure," she forced out. "Just talking about the tournament, Quidditch, the duelling competition coming up…"

"And all the attention she's been getting in the past week," Katie added. Fleur smiled at this comment, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Have you noticed that too, Fleur?

Hermione didn't know what was happening. She felt like she was standing between two lions about to attack each other, not knowing how to stop it. She was trying to find the words to placate both girls so they could all have a friendly conversation, but she didn't think they existed.

"It is quite hard to miss," Fleur said simply.

Hermione jumped slightly as Fleur's hand suddenly slid onto the top of her thigh. Hermione glanced at Fleur, but she was still staring determinedly at Katie, who hadn't noticed the subtle movement.

Hermione's hands were cupped tightly around her glass as she tried to focus on the conversation, but her entire attention was drawn to the soft weight of Fleur's hand.

"I was just telling Hermione here how it didn't surprise me with how extraordinary she is," Katie continued. "Let her know that she would have her pick of students."

"I don't think that's true," Hermione said quickly.

"Of course it is," Fleur replied. "Anyone would be lucky to have you. You deserve _only _the best."

Fleur looked Katie up and down and smirked slightly, the air between them turning as thick as syrup. She turned back to Hermione to lock her back into her fiery gaze.

_Oh, she's jealous,_ Hermione thought, but her brain quickly froze.

Fleur's fingers had inched forward and began to stroke the inside of Hermione's thigh. Hermione felt like hot coals had tumbled into her stomach as Fleur's fingers slid slowly from side to side.

"Are you going to enter the duelling competition?" Katie asked abruptly, scowling at the look Hermione had given Fleur.

"I will be, yes," Fleur answered, tearing her eyes from Hermione. She put light pressure on the inside of Hermione's thigh, and Hermione opened her legs slightly wider. Fleur moved her hand further down her inner thigh, and Hermione bit the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from gasping. Fleur's fingers were only inches away from where her body was pleading for them to be.

"So am I," Katie replied, remaining oblivious to the show happening in front of her. "I think I have a pretty good chance, I've been in the duelling club since my first year."

"How fantastic for you," Fleur retorted.

"You any good at it?"

"Historically, no. But I have been practicing quite a lot since Christmas."

"In preparation for the competition?"

"Sure."

Katie ran her tongue along her teeth and looked slightly questioningly at Hermione. She quickly realised she hadn't spoken in awhile. Fleur's teasing fingers were grabbing all attention from her mind as they began to stroke her inner thigh more firmly.

"Y-yep me too," Hermione stammered. Katie frowned.

"What? You've been practicing too?" she queried.

"Oh, yes, um, I mean, no. I'm, um, I'm entering too."

"You will have a great chance at winning," Fleur replied, glancing at Hermione's lips. "You are a fantastic dueller."

Hermione could barely stand the teasing any longer. Her whole body had grown extremely hot and it took all the energy she possessed not to grab Fleur's shirt and tug her on top of her.

"She sure does," Katie replied and Hermione gulped deeply as she forced herself to refocus. "Everyone's excited to see what she can do. Especially since she's not being forced into a dual because of anyone putting her in a dangerous situation."

Fleur's fingers paused for a moment.

"I am assuming you mean her adventures with Harry?' she said, her tone turning icy.

"We both know that's not what I mean," Katie replied evenly, her eyes squinting slightly.

"Assumptions can be dangerous," Fleur retorted, glaring at Katie. "And a person would be a fool to think they understood someone else's life completely without asking them about it."

"What about if everyone else has already told me? What if it's all over the media?"

Fleur removed her hand from Hermone's thigh and flicked it in a dismissive manner.

"What if I told you that the media tend to lie?" Fleur scoffed. "You do not know a thing."

"I know the stories about you," Katie snapped. "I can't believe Hermione gives you the time of day."

"You know nothing about Hermione and I's relationship!"

"Anyone who really cared for Hermione would never deliberately put her in danger just because they wanted to be with her. That's not love, that's being selfish."

"You do not know what you are talking about!

"I know that it's not official, there's still time for her to snap out of the Veela charm you've put on her."

"I would never do-"

"EXCUSE ME!" Hermione interrupted loudly as the two girls looked ready to launch themselves across the table and throttle each other. She couldn't believe how quickly the situation had escalated and looked incredulously at the both of them. "How about we let Hermione decide what Hermione wants!"

Katie and Fleur both turned to her, slightly taken aback.

"You're both sitting there telling each other what I deserve, when I'm sitting right here and can tell you if you asked!"

"That's not what I was trying to say," Katie muttered.

"Me neither," Fleur added quickly.

Hermione shook her head at them. Being both annoyed and horny was not serving her well right now.

"Look, I appreciate you both looking out for me, but this is my decision to make," Hermione continued. "I'm a big girl, I know how to weigh the pro's and con's of a situation and _I'm _the only one who gets to say what I do and don't deserve! And instead of asking me, you two are too busy looking at each other!"

Hermione threw back the rest of her drink as the two girls stared at her.

"And!" she added, coughing slightly at the liquid that caught in her throat, "You both need to chill out!"

"Chill out?" Fleur replied.

"Chill out!" Hermione exclaimed. Her drunk brain swirled slightly as she tried to remember where she was going with this.

"I am chill," Katie muttered, crossing her arms and slouching in her seat.

"She is provoking me," Fleur said, a slight whine in her voice as she reached for Hermione's hand again.

"Then de-escalate!" Hermione replied and got to her feet. "Whenever other people bring up your sister, you don't react like that."

"Because she's using it to make me sound bad to get to you!" Fleur replied, also getting to her feet. Her face had softened as she tried to pacify the situation. Hermione wasn't having a bar of it.

"And you know me enough to know that stuff doesn't work," Hermione continued, her speech slurring slightly. "All I wanted was a nice quiet weekend in Hogsmeade to think, and instead I'm in a noisy bar, sitting between two girls shouting over what I should do with my life."

Hermione frowned.

"And my glass is empty," she concluded.

"You're right," Katie interjected. "That was a stupid arguement. I'm sorry. Look, I'll get the next round."

"No, I will get the next round," Fleur said quickly. Both girls felt around hurriedly in their pockets.

Hermione let her head fall back and closed her eyes. A dull headache began to thud in her temples and the noise of the bar was ringing through her ears. She wished her and Fleur could go somewhere secluded and finish what had started underneath the table, but she was starting to feel slightly sick. She needed fresh air.

"I'm going outside," Hermione said abruptly as the waitress brought over three full drinks. "Alone," she added as Fleur moved with her.

She shimmied past Fleur, ignoring the awkward look the two other girls gave each other.

_Let them fight with each other while I'm not there_, Hermione thought as she weaved her way through the crowd.

A loud BANG erupted around the room and the crowd howled with laughter. Cedric stood on the table, his face smeared with ash, holding what was left of a packet of exploding snap.

Her feet were trod on multiple times by heavy feet as she squeezed past the drunk patrons. She stumbled on a bearded wizard's cane and grabbed the robes of the person in front of her to steady herself.

"Easy there!" a familiar voice said, and Hermione looked up into Harry's green eyes. "You alright?"

"Harry, what are you doing here?" she shouted. The crowd had started singing again and she could barely hear his reply.

"Finished up with Dumbledore," he shouted back, leaning down slightly to speak directly into her ear. "He showed me a bunch of Voldemort's old memories of when he was a teenager."

"Why?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.

"No idea, but he said it's important for me to know. Can we go somewhere to talk about it?"

"I'm just going out to get some fresh air. Katie and Fleur are sitting at a table over there. Go sit with them until I get back, then we can leave together."

"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt," Harry replied hastily, but Hermione shook her head.

"You didn't, they were getting into a stupid fight over me so I just need to take a break for a second. Great choice asking Katie to look after me by the way, it doesn't help that she wants to get into my pants too."

Harry pushed his glasses back on his nose and smiled sheepishly.

"She said she wouldn't try anything," he replied.

"She didn't. I just need some air. See you soon."

Hermione squeezed Harry on the arm and pushed her way toward the exit.

She took a deep breath as she stepped outside, the fresh air cooling her face. The light had dimmed substantially and she realised she must have been sitting in the stuffy pub for hours. Her head began to spin less and her stomach settled as she leant against the wall of the pub. This hadn't exactly been the most relaxing day.

Shopkeepers had begun to light the braziers outside their stores as students left with their arms full of newly purchased goods. The crowd on the main street had drastically thinned, and many shops were starting to prop up their closed signs. In the distance, the trail back to Hogwarts was dotted with students.

Hermione welcomed the stillness for a few minutes, letting the wind breeze gently through her hair. She took another deep breath and, knowing she had three people waiting for her, turned to head back into the bar.

But the burly bouncer raised a hand to stop her.

"Back of the line," he grunted.

"I was just inside!" she exclaimed.

"And now you're outside. Back of the line."

The line snaked even longer than it had earlier and she knew she had no way of getting back in. Hermione scowled at the bouncer and began to slowly walk, waving half-heartedly at the Hogwarts students that shouted out to her as she passed them.

She had no intention of joining the line and had half a mind to keep walking back to the castle, when a silver shape caught her eye.

The Speropax was sitting in an alleyway next to Zonko's. It was shrouded in shadow, and was trying to look like a stray as it poked its nose into an empty box of merchandise, though it's eyes were on high alert. It looked at Hermione and froze.

Hermione sighed. She hadn't even noticed Fleur leaving the bar.

She walked to where the Speropax stood incredibly still, entering the alleyway and sitting down gingerly on the damp ground. The alleyway was filled with rubbish bags, old boxes, and worn down crates and had a faint smell of wet stone. Her vision was slightly blurry as she tried to focus on the silver dog. It still hadn't moved.

"Bold of you to walk around as the Speropax after what Dumbledore said last night," Hermione yawned. A gentle wind rustled the bulging rubbish bags that were scattered next to her. "Nearly as bold as what you were doing to me under the table in the pub."

The dog walked slowly toward her. The hair on the back of Hermione's neck suddenly pricked. Something about the Speropax seemed slightly off but she couldn't put her finger on it. It's torso seemed longer than she remembered and the shape of its eyes were more oval.

_That makes no sense_, Hermione thought to herself. _I'm too drunk to even remember what Fleur looks like in her Animagus form._

She took a deep breath and let her head fall back with a soft thud against the concrete wall behind her.

"I meant what I said in there," she continued. "You can't let people wind you up about your sister so easily. You're doing everything you can to stop her and people will see that eventually. I mean, I couldn't believe that you told Dumbledore that she can turn into the Speropax too. That must have been hard for you to break the silence on your family's secret."

A dull thump told her that the Speropax had jumped onto a nearby crate.

"I've been thinking about what we talked about all week," Hermione sighed. "I've been so busy that I don't have an answer yet. I've really missed you though."

Hermione opened her eyes. The Speropax was perched on the crate across from her, it's eyes staring so intently that she felt like it could see into her soul.

"Can you turn back into a human please so we can talk?" Hermione said, the alcohol she'd consumed heightening her confidence to a level it never usually sat. "Or atleast so I can kiss you?"

The Speropax jumped off the crate and sat next to her. Hermione reached forward and stroked the side of it's face with her thumb.

Her brain rocked slightly as the dog began to transform. She clenched her eyes shut as watching the arms retract and then extend back in human form was making her feel sick again. They stayed closed until her thumb was now resting against a warm face.

"Is that better?" a voice said.

Hermione frowned slightly. That wasn't Fleur's voice. This voice was deeper, and there was sarcasm laced through every word.

Hermione opened her eyes and began to yell as she jerked her arm away, but Amandine clamped one hand over her mouth, the other holding her wand steady directly between Hermione's eyes.

"Well that would explain why I was chased off of the grounds this morning," Amandine muttered.

Hermione had never seen a picture of Amandine before, but she knew this was her. She resembled Fleur so closely, but in the places where Fleur was soft, Amandine was sharp.

Her eyes were icier, her stare was harsh, and her arms looked solid with muscle.

She was kneeling next to Hermione so closely that she could smell her perfume. It was a musky scent that she could taste at the back of her throat.

"So, it sounds like my little sister has decided ultimately to ignore the fright she got at Christmas," Amandine continued. "She always has been particularly stubborn."

Hermione's eyes darted to the side of the alleyway where people were walking by, but they were too far in to be seen. Her wand was pressing hard against the outside of her leg. She knew she had no chance of getting it without drawing attention.

"I've been waiting all day to see her, but she's become very good at alluding me. It's quite annoying as I need to pass on a message. If I take my hand off of your mouth, do you promise not to yell?"

Hermione's eyes darted back to Amandine's. Her heart felt like it was trying to escape from her chest and the brain fog from the alcohol had completely cleared. She hadn't expected that. She had expected to be taken straight to Bellatrix Lestrange.

Slowly, Hermione nodded her head.

Amandine let her hand drop. She waited a moment before reaching into Hermione's pocket and taking her wand, twirling it between her fingers as she stood up and pocketed it.

"Precautions," Amandine said simply. She walked backwards, her own wand still pointed low at Hermione, before perching on the edge of the crate. She leant back on one arm in the exact same way that Fleur would.

Hermione found her voice.

"What do you want?" she said sourly, sounding braver than she felt. Amandine arched an eyebrow.

"Feisty," she replied. "No wonder my sister likes you. How long have you two been together?"

"We aren't together," Hermione said quickly. "We're just friends."

Amandine scoffed.

""Can you turn back into a human so I can atleast kiss you?"" Amandine mimicked in a high voice, and Hermione felt herself redden. "Don't take me for a fool. If you won't tell me then I'll get it out of you with Legilimency."

"Go for it."

Amandine smirked slightly. She held her gaze and Hermione felt the familiar feeling of scratching at the insides of her brain. She tightened her gaze, determined to block out the intrusive magic and show she was an equal match in this fight. The magic was persistent as it searched for cracks in her walls, but Hermione's training in Occlumency held strong.

"Impressive," Amandine finally said, and Hermione's brain felt like it was released from a vice grip.

Hermione straightened herself up against the wall and Amandine's finger twitched on her wand.

"I'm sure my sister has passed on all sorts of information to you," Amandine continued. "Including the warning I gave to her at Christmas. It's come to a point where I think my words are falling on deaf ears, though."

Hermione couldn't help but feel intimidated by the woman in front of her. She exuded power and Hermione knew that with a flick of her wand she could call half of the Death Eaters. But she refused to be walked over.

"Why do you even care?" Hermione retorted. "Why do you care who your sister dates? It doesn't affect you in any way."

"I don't care who she dates, as long as it isn't you."

Hermione bristled with anger at that comment. They were on the blood status train again.

"You might be pure blood, but you still couldn't get past my Muggle Born Occlumency," Hermione snapped, taking satisfaction from the slight narrowing of Amandine's eyes.

"People like you can't be involved with people like us," Amandine retorted. "The Veela have some of the most sought after magical blood in the world. We belong with others of the same status or we will die out."

"And yet it's Fleur's choice, not yours, on who she ends up with. You have no stake in this."

"I have a stake in whether my sister gets to live or die."

Hermione felt ice strike her stomach at the words. Amandine was watching her carefully for any reaction.

"And," Amandine continued, "As much as I detest those that steal our magic, the reason she can't be with you is because you are Harry Potter's friend. She is putting herself in danger."

"No, YOU are putting her in danger," Hermione spat. She got to her feet and Amandine raised her wand. Fury was flowing through her veins though, and all feelings of intimidation evaporated.

"You stand there all high and mighty telling Fleur what to do to protect her, when actually the only reasons she's in danger is because of the choices YOU have made."

"You have no idea what choices I've made," Amandine retorted, rising to her feet and striding forward so her wand was an inch from Hermione's forehead. Her face remained stoney but Hermione noted how quick she was to anger. "Sometimes there is no choice."

"You had a choice when you tortured those girls when you were at Durmstrang!" Hermione replied. "You had a choice when you murdered one of them!"

"I didn't kill anyone," Amandine hissed. "I was part of a group of people who I thought were my friends and I got in too deep."

"Bullshit! Everyone knows you did it!"

"We all knew I was the only one who was going to get off with a lesser charge, so I took the fall for all the crimes."

"You're a liar and you should've been locked away in Azkaban!"

"Believe what you like, but I did my time."

Hermione laughed coldly.

"Your time? You went under home arrest in your mansion in France and now you're running around with Death Eaters! Don't try to manipulate me into thinking you've suddenly changed your ways because you aren't that good of a liar!"

A large frown line creased Amandine's forehead and she set her jaw tightly.

"Don't you think the best way to protect those who you love is to be able to know exactly what the enemy is doing!" Amandine spat, her composure breaking for the first time. Her knuckles were white as they tightened on her wand, and her eyes had grown icier. Hermione knew she was pushing it but she didn't care. She had wanted to scream these words at Amandine the moment Fleur had shown her the memory.

"Don't pretend like that's the reason you're trying to join them," Hermione shouted. "I saw the memory from Christmas. The way you used the Cruciatus curse on your own sister. You're out of control and your moral compass doesn't exist. I saw the way you interacted with the Death Eater's, the way you didn't tell them about Fleur and I when you could've. You have no loyalty to _anyone_. You just want to cause chaos! It looks to me like you're nothing but a lackey!"

Hermione gasped as Amandine's open palm slapped her hard across the side of the face, her wand hooked under her thumb so the wood crunched against her teeth. The sound of the slap echoed down the alleyway.

Hermione stumbled backwards and landed against the wall, holding her stinging cheek. Tears automatically sprung to her eyes as Amandine breathed heavily in front of her.

"You are a stupid little girl," Amandine hissed. "And you know nothing, _nothing_, about me. You want to know where my loyalty is?"

Amandine wrenched up the sleeve of her blouse. The thick black lines of the Dark Mark took up most of the space on the inside of her pale forearm. It glinted, even though Amandine stood in the shadows.

"They are where my loyalty will be until I die," Amandine continued, her voice sounding strained. "I know Fleur has made her decision to be with you regardless of my countless warnings. So be it. She is willingly putting herself into mortal danger and I'm done with trying to convince her to come to me. Just know that by going along with this, you are having a hand in her death."

Amandine let her sleeve fall back down as she stalked toward the entrance of the alleyway. Hermione felt a bruise already starting to form on her cheek as she leant against the concrete wall with one hand.

"I'm not going to bring Fleur to you," Hermione replied weakly, staring at her feet. "Whatever you say to try to convince me you have her best interests at heart, I'll never tell her to trust you again."

"You will be the exact reason why Fleur comes running to me," Amandine replied without looking back. "You just don't realise how yet."

Amandine reached into her pocket, dropping Hermione's wand onto the cobblestones as she reached the entrance of the alleyway. It clattered loudly and rolled into the gutter.

"You have both chosen the losing side, and time is running out for you to switch," she called over her shoulder. "You can pass the message on for me. Tell Fleur to stop following Mikhail if she knows what's good for her. That's the last warning I'll give. Next time I see her may be the last."

The reply died in Hermione's throat as Amandine disapperated, leaving her staring at the darkening street of Hogsmeade in front of her.


End file.
